Study Buddies
by AllYours
Summary: Two weeks before exams, Derek asks Casey for help, but she can't put what happened at Sam's party behind her. When he reveals his feelings for her, and learns about her boyfriend, nothing will be the same. Rated T for contents, alcohol referance/usuage. Prequel to Losing You,
1. Exams

**Study Buddies**

LWD Fan Fiction

*DISCLAIMER: I don't own LWD. I do, however, own Jenny. *

**CHAPTER ONE: Exams**

_Knock, knock, knock_.

Casey groaned. She was studying and _everybody_ in the McDonald-Venturi family knew that that's what she did after dinner. But this time, she _definitly_ needed to study, considering that exams were in 2 weeks.

"Please go away! I'm studying!" she hollered.

_Knock, knock, knock_.

She rolled off her bed and walked to the door. "This better be important." She sighed silently, turning the doornob.

And there, right in front of her, was the last person she expected.

"Hey step sis," Derek smiled. This was the first time they'd been alone since what happened at Sam's party last month.

"What do you want, Derek?" Casey scoffed. She rolled her eyes, trying not to think of him like the way he was at that party.

"Well, Case, I have a problem." Derek said. Sliding his hands into his front pockets, he took a step into Casey's room. His eyes danced around the blue walls, stairing at what was, in fact, Casey.

"And what would _that_ be?" Casey crossed her arms. She knew she had no time for this. She also knew he wouldn't leave untill he told her what his problem was.

"Y'see, Dad and Nora said that if I don't get a B on the exams, I can kiss Europe good-bye."

"So, what are you asking then?" Casey knew what he was going to ask, but she liked playing clueless around him. It was easier to deal with him like that.

"I need you t-to help m-me study." He choked on these words. There were only three things he _really_ hated: Not getting his way, Casey and asking for help.

"Gee, Derek," Casey said sarcastically. "As _fun_ as that sounds, I have my own studying to do. Now if you don't mind," Casey opened the door. "I have work to do."

Derek walked over to the door. He swung his hand behind the door and closed it.

"Look, Casey. I _really _needyour help and you know how much I _hate_ asking for help, so can you just give me this?"

"Letme think..." Casey paused. Derek couldn't tell if she was actually thinking about it, or if she'd already made up her mind. She'd been harder to read since Sam's party. He had no recollection of anything that happened other than flirting with some girls, having a few beers and sucking face with Jenny, a girl from his English class.

"No way!" Casey yelled, and Derek snapped out of his haze of trying to remember what happened.

Casey opened the door and started to shove him out it. "GET OUT!" Casey grunted.

Derek was digging in his heels, as per usual.

"Look, Casey, this is a win-win." Derek protested.

Casey's hands dropped to her side, and then she placed them on her hips. "How so?" she asked defensively.

"Think about it." He began, stepping into her room once again. "If you help me pass, then I go to Europe for the summer."

Derek paused. "The _entire_ summer." he added.

Casey took a moment to think. Although the prospect of Derek gone for the entire summer sounded thrilling, she couldn't stand being near him and she didn't want to be near him either. Things were fine, that is, until Sam had that damned party.

"Well?"

"Hold _on_, Derek! I'm still thinking!"

"Well can ya hurry up?"

She sighed. '_I might as well say yes_.'she thought. '_It would save me from seeing him all day during the summer, but can I handle being near him?_'

"Fine." Casey said, reluctantly.

"Thanks, Case." Derek said, leaving the room.

As he left, Casey closed the door. After it was closed, she stood against it, back to it, like a human barricade, separating her room from the rest of the house. With a sigh, she felt her legs buckle underneath her and she fell to the ground, still leaning against the door.

She sat there, slumped against the door, regretting her choice to help Derek.


	2. Jenny

**Study Buddies**

LWD Fan Fiction

*DISCLIMER: I don't own LWD, however I do own Jenny*

**CHAPTER 2: Jenny**

Derek sat on his chair, feet up on the desk. _'Mission accomplished' _he thought to himself. He reached up his shirt and pulled out his prize: Casey's diary.

He had taken it when he was asking for help with studying. He hadn't read it for _months_, and wanted a good laugh. He grabbed the extra key he stored and opened it.

"Jackpot!" he mumbled to himself. She'd added dozens of new entries. He tried to search for the one dated closest to the last time he read it, so he could keep up-to-date.

"April 21st, April 17th, April 1st, March 30th, March 23rd." He muttered under his breath, flipping multiple pages at a time. "Aha! March 11th! There you are!" He celebrated his mini-victory silently.

Just as Derek got comfortable, someone knocked at the door. "Derek!" a boyish voice called from behind it. _'Shit´_ Derek knew it was Edwin. He slammed the book shut and shoved it under a massive pile of papers on his desk.

"What?" He hollered.

"Phone. It's Jenny."

Derek rolled his eyes. _'When will she leave me alone?' _he thought. He hated girls that didn't get the hint, no matter how hot they looked in a string bikini.

Derek opened the door and snatched the phone from Edwin, slamming the door in his face.

"Hello?" Derek asked. He secretly swore to himself that he'd tell her off. He was with Emily now, and he didn't want to fuck that up.

"Hi Derek, it's Jenny." Replied the voice from the phone. Her voice had a soft, sweet ring to it whenever she said his name.

"Look Jen-"

She cut him off. "I just wanted to know if you wanted to hang out later?" She asked.

"Jenny, I've told you a dozen times: No! I'm with Emily now."

"I know," she protested. "But I thought you might want something on the side, if things go south."

"No. I love Emily."

"But-" she tried to protest.

"No." and with that, Derek hung up the phone. Hopefully, she'd get the point _now_.

He set the phone down. Had he actually said that? That he _loved_ Emily? It couldn't of been possible, but he did. He stared at the pile of papers that he shoved Casey's diary under.

'_Man,'_ he thought. _' I need a laugh. ´_ He grabbed the diary, knocking over a few papers in exchange. Derek opened it once again, proud of himself for having marked the page.

Just as he opened the book, a folded piece of paper fell out.

* * *

Casey stood up. She had moped around for a while and needed to get back to studding.

'_Can't change what happened…'_ she thought. Even if she went over and told Derek "no", it really wouldn't change anything. Derek always got his way. No matter what.

Casey walked over to her bed and laid on it. She pulled her "Algebra 4" textbook in front of her. She started coping things out of it into a separate notebook.

'Alright, if x equals y plus 5 then x times y plus 7 equals… equals… equals'

"GAH!" Casey screamed, hands clasped against her head.

She couldn't concentrate. The thoughts came back, the thoughts about Sam's party. About Derek. About what he _did_ to her.

She thought she repressed them, never wanting them to come back. But there they were, clear as day.

She ran to her bookshelf, grabbing hold of the box on the first shelf closest to the ground. She pulled it off the shelf and forcefully pulled the lid off. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. She looked in the box.

Anger grew in her. She was furious at what was there, or lack there of.

She wiped her eyes of her tears, and stormed out of her room.

* * *

Derek yawned.

Casey was so boring. There wasn't anything new in her diary. It was only the usual, "Truman did this" or "Emily and I hung out" or "Derek did that". He set the diary down on the table, opened with the cover facing up. Derek needed a break.

Just as he placed his feet up on the desk, he noticed something. It was a folded piece of paper. He picked up the yellow lined paper and flipped the paper in his hands. There was a date written on the square-folded piece of paper

Derek looked at the date; May 24th. The date seemed familiar to him, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

Then it hit him; it was the date of Sam's party.

He opened the paper and began to read it.

* * *

Casey barged through his door,

She saw it. Her diary was opened and on his desk. Clearly, Derek had read it. And that paper. That yellow paper she was going to destroy, was opened, and in Derek's hands.

* * *

**~ALLYOURS~ Corner**

**OK, people, here's your update:**

**What happened at Sam's party will be in Chapter 3. Chapter 3 will be added by September 1st, 2010. **

**They're studding for their Gr. 12 exams.**

**Sam's party and the party in Toronto are not related. **

**Alright? Keep reading and your reviews comming. They'll help me write faster and with better ideas tailored to your tastes. And yes, it is my plan to have some Derek/Casey love going on. Mmk? If you have any questions, or ideas post them as a review or PM me. **

**Love you all.**

**AllYours.**


	3. No More Hiding

**Study Buddies**

LWD Fan Fiction

*DISCLAMER: I don't own LWD. *

**CHAPTER 3: No More Hiding**

"What. The. Hell. Are. You. Doing?" Casey paused between every word. Her hands were in fists and anger was flowing through her.

"No." Derek stood up, ready for a fight. "The better question is; when were you going to tell me?" Derek waved the paper around.

"You never needed to know, Derek!" Casey answered.

Now Derek was fuming. "Like hell I didn't!" he yelled. He walked over to her. They were now face to face. "I never even knew, Casey! And now I find out on a fucking sheet of paper!" He threw the paper down.

"Did you really think you could hide this from me forever?" Derek asked.

Casey didn't respond.

"That's what I thought." Derek smirked.

"You're a jerk." Casey muttered.

"Well, sorry to disappoint, princess, but that's who I am." Derek retorted.

She couldn't take this anymore. Her anger and frustration took hold. She was no longer in control of herself.

"I-I hate you Derek!" Casey hollered, as she stormed of his room, grabbing her diary, but forgetting the paper that lay on the floor. She slammed the door behind her.

Derek was shocked. Although they fought, she'd never said, "I hate you" to him before.

Derek needed a moment to process what had happened with Casey. He slowly lowered himself onto his bed. His eyes caught glimpse of the paper. He picked it up and decided to read it once more.

He opened it and began to read.

_'Dear Diary,_

_I write this on a separate piece of paper, so if anyone tries to take my diary, they won't find this. Anyways, something happened to me at Sam's party, and I don't know what to do._

_Let me start from the beginning:_

_Derek was drinking, as he normally does at parties. He told me needed to talk to me in private, which was weird. He brought me to the basement and led me to the Rec Room._

_Then he pinned me against the wall and started to kiss me. He started to undress me, pulling off my shirt while shoving his tongue in my mouth. I could feel "Little Derek" pressing against me, while he moved his lower body in and away from me._

_I told him to stop, but he refused, so I tried to push him off of me, but it was no use; he was too strong. I tried to scream for help, but he shoved his mouth on mine, forcing my lips apart, to keep me from screaming. I tried to force him off once more, but he came back stronger than before._

_He unhooked my bra and threw it to the ground, groping my boobs, still bumping his pelvis against mine. Derek went down, kissing my neck and working his way down to my chest. He started to suck on my boobs, kissing and biting._

_Derek kept doing what he was doing, alternating between kissing me and groping my boobs. I felt immense pain because Derek had bitten me, on my side, under my boobs. I was afraid he was going to go all the way, at least, until Max came in._

_Max ended up looking for me because he heard me screaming and wanted to see if I was ok. He ended up walking in on what was happening, and punched Derek in the stomach. They fought for a little, punching each other. I just really wanted to get the hell out of there, so I gathered my stuff and ran out. Out of the room, out of the house and away from Derek and the party. _

_I got in the car and drove. And drove. I drove to the safest place I knew: Port Stanley. I'd been my favorite place to go to since Mom had married George. The only safety I've known since we left Toronto. I spent an hour there, watching the waves come in and out. _

_The bite mark is still there. I don't think it's every going to go away. But something that happens still stands out. Before this happened, he told me he loved me._

_It couldn't be possible, could it? He and Jenny had just started dating a week ago, and here I thought he was incapable of love. It was the alcohol, right?_

_It had to have been. Derek would never have done what he did if he was sober. _

_The point is, Derek can never know about this. If he ever, ever found out, who knows what he'd do? _

_- Casey'_

Derek sat the paper down and rubbed his forehead. How could he have done that to _her_? She was his _stepsister_, and that was all she'd ever be, right?

But these feelings he had, he couldn't shove them aside any more. He couldn't hide them now that he knew what he'd done to her. Besides, according to Lizzie's newest issue of Teen Girls, being drunk _only_ gives you courage to do what you've always wanted to.

Derek's head was pounding. He knew in his head that she'd only be his stepsister, but in his heart he wanted her to be _more_ than that.

* * *

**~ALLYOURS~ Corner**

**If you liked this chapter, wait till you read Chapter 4. I have a nice suprise for you guys... **

**I should inform you that School's gonna start soon, so I won't always be updating every few days. At the least, once a week. Don't be mad :P**

**This was the hardest chapter to write, so please enjoy it. Oh, and keep your reviews coming! **

**AllYours**


	4. Bruses and StepBrothers

**Study Buddies**

LWD Fan Fiction

*DISCLAMER: I don't own LWD. *

**CHAPTER 4: Bruses and Step-Brothers**

Casey lifted up her shirt, staring at her reflection. Sighing, she pulled it up a little more, turning to the left. The bite mark was still there; still as red as it was when she got it.

The other scratches had faded. This, the paper and her memories were all that remained of that night.

She pulled down her shirt and turned away from the mirror. She could no longer take looking at it; it always brought tears to her eyes, as well as those terrible memories.

She walked over to her bench under the window and sat down, curled up and gazed at the stars. They were just coming out. Casey placed her focus on the brightest star she saw.

"Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight." She closed her eyes really tight, and wished her hardest.

She pulled the throw from the end of the bench and covered her legs.

Casey sighed and rested her cheek on her hand, her cheeks damp from all her tears.

_Knock-knock-knock._

"Come in!" she sniffled.

The door opened, and Nora walked in with a mug of something, topped with whipped cream.

"Hey Case," Nora said, walking towards her eldest daughter. "I overheard your fight with Derek."

Nora passed the mug into Casey's outstretched hands. "It's your favorite; Mint Hot Coca. It'll help you feel better"

"Thanks, Mom. It's just what I needed." Casey took a sip. The warm drink felt comforting in her hands, as well as going down her throat.

"Now, Case, you get some rest. George and I will talk to Derek in the morning, ok?"

She nodded.

Nora kissed her daughter on the top of her head. "Good night, Casey"

"Night, Mom." Casey responded weakly. All her crying made her feel weak.

Nora left the room, closing the door ever so quietly, so as not to disturb Lizzie, who slept in the next room. Lizzie was a _very_ light sleeper.

Casey slowly brought the mug to her lips, and took another sip. The warm coca filled her, giving her a small sense of happiness.

She glanced around her room, her eyes landing on her bed. She'd left all her notebooks and textbooks on her bed. Some were open and others were closed, and in a nice, neat pile.

Normally, they'd be on their respective shelves or in her backpack by now, but she still was shaken up from that big fight they had, that it just didn't get done.

Though she and Derek fought like there was no tomorrow, she'd _never_ said, "I hate you" to him before. It felt weird saying it, but it was his fault. He was practically _begging_ for her to say it.

She shifted over to her bed, closing the open books, and stacking them on the closed. She picked up the pile and set them on the floor. She'd deal with them in the morning.

Casey's head turned to the left. The clock read "11:27"

''_Shit' _she thought, _'Tomorrow's gonna be hell.'_

Casey lifted up the covers, sliding under them. Her bed was as cold as stone. Goosebumps shot up her bare legs. She shook.

Casey rolled over, reaching for the "off" switch on the lamp beside her bed.

Knock-knock-knock

She stopped; her hand only inches away.

"It must be Mom." Casey muttered, pulling the covers off of her and rolling over towards the door. She walked over, turning the doorknob and opening the door.

Casey gasped. Behind the door stood Derek.

"What th-"

Before Casey could finish, Derek grabbed Casey and pushed her against the wall, closing the door with his foot. He pinned her arms against the wall, and started to kiss her.

* * *

**~ALLYOURS~ Corner**

**Sorry it took me so long. You can thank High School for that. But there's LOADS of cute guys, so I'm sure you can forgive me! (^o^)**

**This story (towards the end) might be worded weiredly, but that's my fault. Once again, so sorry! Please forgive me! Oh, and by the way, Nutella is more fun to eat with a spoon. :D**

**I don't actually know how many chapters I'm gonna do, plus I lost my USB, so I can only work on it 4 times a month (My laptops is at my dad's). However, I could use First Class so maybe more updates? I don't know. :\**

**Keep your comments comming!**

**AllYours**


	5. Secrets

**Study Buddies**

LWD Fan Fiction

*DECLAIMER: I don't own LWD. *

**CHAPTER 5: Secrets**

It only took a split-second for all the memories to flood back. Those memories she had worked so hard to hide, she was now watching in her head, like a movie.

Casey panicked and her eyes shot open. It was hard to concentrate on what was in front of her, because Derek's face was really close.

Then she noticed something odd. His eyes weren't open. When she saw him making-out with all those other girls, even Emily, he'd always have at least one eye open. But why weren't his eyes open? She'd overheard him on the phone with Jenny. He'd told her that he loved Emily. And when they made out on the sofa, one of his eyes was open almost as if to say, "Yeah, that's right. You better look!"

If he didn't like her, then what the heck was he doing? Was this some kind of joke? Or maybe it was a dare. Derek never said "no" to those.

Then he shoved his tongue into her mouth. Casey nearly gagged. The fact that he was even doing this made already made her want to gag.

'_That's odd' _she thought. There was no taste of alcohol on his breath. This was different from last time.

Casey snapped into overdrive. She'd already let it go on for two long.

"GET OFF!" She grunted, in a medium-loud tone.

She pushed him with all her strength.

Derek stumbled backwards. His eyes opened wide and his jaw dropped. He ran his finger across his bottom lip.

"What the hell, Derek!" Casey yelled. At this point she didn't care if she woke Lizzie.

Derek looked at Casey with a half-blank stare. "Casey," He protested.

"How could you do this to me?" Casey took a step away from the wall.

"Look, Casey, I can explain!"

Casey pursed her hands on her hips. "Okay," she said, skepticism laced in her voice. "Go for it."

"Well, you see, I-I, um, was l-looking for my watch that I, uh, left in your room earlier a-and you-"

"Oh my gawd! Derek, you're such a liar!"

"Casey, you wouldn't understand!"

"Tell me the truth!"

"You want the truth? YOU WANT THE TRUTH?" Derek knocked over the lamp on her desk in anger. Thank goodness it was plastic.

"Fine." He sighed. "Here it is: I love you, Casey. I've tried to hide it for as long as I could, but I can't any longer. I love you." Derek looked at his feet.

"Did Sam put you up to this? 'Cause if he did, I'm so gonna kick his ass."

"Casey, no one put me up to this. I love you. I really do."

"Um, Derek?"

"I love you, Casey" Derek advanced.

"Please stop."

"I love you, Casey" Derek kept advancing.

"You're scaring me!"

"Casey, you don't know how much I love you."

"Stop it, Derek. You're really freaking me out." Casey backed up, holding her hands out in front of her, trying to prevent Derek's advances.

"Casey, let me prove it to you."

"No, Derek, get out! Get out and never, EVER, talk to me or come near me again!"

Derek stepped forward and with every step he took, the distance between Casey and the wall decreased.

"Please. Hear me out." His voice was now a whisper.

_WHAP_! Casey's palms landed flat on the wall. Derek was still advancing. She had nowhere left to run. She had to give. It was the only option.

"Fine." Her eyes fell, landing on her feet. Defeat wasn't easy for her. "Prove it to me." There was a long slience. "But don't you dare touch me." She added.

Derek opened the door and left the room. She sighed a sigh of relief. He was gone; for now, at least.

* * *

Derek pulled opened his top drawer. In it was a box. He pushed aside all his socks and pulled the box out.

Setting it down on the bed, he lifted off the lid. Inside, there was a small, jewel-incrusted box. Derek opened it, to reassure himself that what was in there still was.

He opened it and smiled.

* * *

**ALLYOURS~ Corner**

**Sorry this took so long. High schools a lot of work! Plus I was getting writers block.**

**I'm thinking of doing a Wizards of Waverly Place fanfic. Your thoughts? Regardless, I'm doing it. It'll be called "Broken Rules" or something like that. If I want to, I'll change it. Look out for it, kay? It should be up some time before Oct. 31.**

**Don't forget to comment. Review, review, review! I love getting that little notification on Hotmail, telling me that the site sent me an email!**

**To my readers, thank you! I always thought my writhing was crap. Thanks for proving me wrong!**

**AllYours~**


	6. Thinking

**Study Buddies**

LWD Fan Fiction

*DISCLAMER: I don't own LWD. *

**CHAPTER 6: Thinking**

Casey plopped onto her bed. She couldn't believe what had happened. Just a few days ago they were screaming at each other, now he said that he loved her! It just didn't make sense.

'_What do I do_?'she thought. She couldn't get Nora and George involved; that'd be ridiculous. But she certainly couldn't do this by herself.

Grabbing the phone off the nightstand, she held it in her hand. There was only one person who she knew could help. And she punched in the numbers.

* * *

"I've got a way with words/and it's the cause of all my problems/I've got my mind set-" Derek grabbed the phone and flipped it open. It was a text from Sam: '_Did ya tell her?' _Derek typed in "Yes" and hit reply.

He pulled out the necklace that he bought so many years ago: It was a small gold locket, with "CM" inscribed on it. Inside it, were two photos; one of her and one of him.

He held it close. He'd bought it two years ago in Toronto when he went there with Sam. He was going to give this to Casey, but there was never really a good time.

"I've got a way with words/and it's the cause of all my proble-" He flipped open his phone once more, expecting Sam, only this time it was an unknown number.

'_Derek, we need to talk. Right now!'_

* * *

She sighed. She had to do it.

She called Sally. She was the only person who could help her; she knew Derek better than anyone. And was the only one who was awake.

Then Casey got to thinking. Thinking about Derek. There was more than one time that she'd be aroused when she looked at him; when he got out of the shower, at his hockey games and she certainly thought of him once or twice when she made-out with Sam.

'This couldn't be happening' Casey thought. It was wrong on so many levels the be thinking about him like that! He was her step-brother! It was like liking your 4th cousin, twice removed; it's still just wrong.

_Thud-thud-thud._

She could hear Derek's footsteps. He was coming. There was no longer time to think. Casey took a deep breath and sighed. It was D-Day.

* * *

Sally sat on the edge of her bed, phone in hand. Her blonde hair fell lifelessly from her head. It was messy and unkempt.

"C'mon Derek," she whispered. "Call me before you do something stupid."

* * *

**ALLYOURS~ Corner!**

**YAY! My spacee~ **

**First, I appologize for it being shorter than normal. But I wanted to get this up to tell you all that I finished the first chapter of my new Wizards of Waverly Place fanfic. It's called "Under the Street Lamp" and it's more discripitive than what I normally write. I was expermenting.**

**Second, I really wanted to add in a part for Sally. It's would've been Emily, but I though that'd be weird, so I didn't do it!**

**Third, high school is crazy! Just wanted to put that out there.**

**Don't forget to comment! And read my new fanfic!**

**AllYours**


	7. Te Amo

**Study Buddies**

LWD Fan Fiction

*DISCLAMER: I don't own LWD. *

**CHAPTER 7: Te Amo**

Sally held the phone in here hands.

She knew what Derek was capable of when he was in love. He'd literally kill for the girl he loved. And this time, he was bitten. Hard.

Sally also knew Casey. She knew that Casey hate arguing with Derek. She knew that Casey was scared. But worst of all, Sally knew that she was in love. With someone else.

* * *

Derek pushed the door open and entered the room.

"Here," he said, holding out his hand. Casey cupped her hands underneath his. He opened his fist and dropped the gold locket into her hands.

"Derek…"

"Just open it." He said, grumbling. She could tell he wasn't terribly happy.

Casey did as he commanded and opened it, and her jaw dropped.

It was dance photo from a couple years back. It was the one of her when she had gotten her solo for her jazz class. She'd thought that she lost that photo. It was her favourite.

But another photo was there; it was familiar yet not, all at the same time. It was one of Derek, smiling, when they went to the beach last month. He looked genuinely happy.

"Derek," Casey began. "It's gorgeous."

"I bought it for you a while ago." Derek smiled. It seemed like the first time in a while tonight that someone smiled.

Casey paused, placing her hands beside her on the bed as she looked up at him. "Why are you doing this, Derek?"

"I told you; I love you. You told me to prove it, and I am."

"But you know we can't be together…"

"So? Casey, I love you and you love me, and that's all that matters."

"Derek, I never said 'I love you'"

"But I see it in your eyes, Casey." He said, moving closer to her. "I see it in the way you look at me, and the way you talk to me."

Casey was speechless. How could he see that? Was she that obvious? She had tried to hide it so hard. And now all that work now meant nothing. Her only hope was to stand firm against him. Well, that and wait for her wish to come true.

The reality was she was in love with him, but even more in love with someone else. Her mind flashed back to her conversation with Sally weeks ago:

"_Great news, Sally! I'm in love!"_

"_That's awesome," Sally responded. "Who with?"_

"_With the most nicest, sweetest, most amazing guy in all of Canada!"_

"_Michael Cera?" Sally joked._

"_No, with Daniel Corbin."_

"_Josh's Brother?"_

"_Yeah!"_

"_So, you're saying that you're 'in love with' my boyfriend's brother?"_

"_Yes!"_

Casey also remembered that their conversation didn't end well. Sally was super P.O-ed about that, especially when she learned that Josh knew about it and didn't tell her. Sally hated the kid; he was trouble, with a capital 'T'.

Even everyone at the high-school thought that he was bad news. He smoked, neglected his classes, hung out with the wrong people, not to mention he had a knack of breaking the rules. He acted like a badass.

But Casey had seen a different side of him; a kind, compassionate side that very few had seen. She loved that side of him.

"And the way you smile," Derek said, slowing his words as he leaned in to her. But this time, Casey didn't scream, or move away, or tell him to stop. She let him advance. Well, almost.

Casey snapped out of her emotion-daze, just before Derek's lips reached hers.

"No, Derek," she said, pushing him away. "I can't. _We_ can't. It's wrong."

Derek pushed her hands off of his chest and moved in. "If this is wrong, then why does this feel so right?" And then, he kissed her.

Derek kissed her, sweetly and soft first, then harder and more passionate. He pushed her back, gently, laying her down slowly and pulling himself over her.

Casey kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Derek held himself over her, and kissed.

_TAP!_

Casey sat up, shocked. Derek rolled off of her and wrapped his arms around her.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I heard something…"

"It was probably nothing," he said, rolling back onto her.

Casey pushed him off of her. "No, Derek, I'm serious. I heard something."

"Case, _everyone's _asleep. It's 11:17 at night."

Just as Derek was about to roll on her again, she heard it again. And this time, she knew Derek heard it.

_TAP!_

They both looked in the direction where the nose was coming; Casey's window.

Casey rolled out of her bed and walked over to the window. There, standing outside was the answer to her prayers; her wish come true. Daniel was outside her window, leaning against his car. He looked at her window and saw her, and sent her a 'You-coming-or-not' nod. She mouthed the word 'yes' and he winked, signaling her he got it.

Casey turned around and looked at Derek, who was now standing at the edge of her bed.

"Derek, I gotta go." Casey said.

"Why? Who the hell's out there?" He asked, moving his head to try and catch a glimpse of the person who was outside.

"Look, Derek, me agreeing to help you study was a mistake. In fact, this _entire_ night has been a mistake."

"Casey, don't say that…"

"I'm sorry, Derek, but I gotta go."

Casey opened the window and climbed down the side of the house. Derek peered out the window. There he saw Daniel Corbin, Thompson High's biggest badass, even bigger than Derek.

He watched as the love of his life kissed his new-found enemy. He watched as she got into his car, and as they drove off.

Derek knew that at this point it would be useless waiting up for her. She could return at any time. God, he was furious! Anger swelled inside him. The thought of Casey kissing, touching, loving that loser made Derek made his anger swell even more.

"GAAH!" he screamed, punching straight through the dry-wall.

He left the room, fist dangling at his side, and slammed the door behind him, leaving the gold locket sitting on her bed.

* * *

**~AllYours Corner~**

**Heya,**

**PHEW! That took me a while to write. I'm sorry that it took me this long to write it. I kept telling myself, "when I'm done my exams, I'll start writing again," but _that_ didn't happen, so I decided to spend my Family Day long weekend working on this. I hope you like it! Oh, and I've also decided to write a _new_ LWD fanfic, so if you guys look out for it, that'd be great.**

**I'll write again soon, Little Monsters :)**

**~AllYours**


	8. Saturday Morning Coffee

**Study Buddies**

LWD Fan Fiction

*DISCLAMER: I don't own LWD. *

**CHAPTER 8: Saturday Morning Coffee**

The next morning seemed to be normal enough. Nora and George were in bathrobes, sipping coffee, Marti was munching on cereal in her purple P.J.'s, and Edwin and Lizzie were watching Saturday morning cartoons. Derek stumbled down the stairs in a sleepy haze.

"Morning," he yawned.

"Morning, Smerek," chirped Marti.

Derek walked into the kitchen, grabbed a bowl and a spoon and plopped down on the chair beside Marti. He grabbed the cereal and pored some in his bowl.

Lizzie turned around. "Wow, Derek," she remarked. "You look like crap this morning."

"Yeah, Derek, you do look bad. Did you have a rough night?" asked Nora.

"Couldn't sleep," Derek responded, poring milk into his bowl. But that was only half true. He spent half the night up, worrying about Casey.

George glanced at his watch. "Lizzie, Edwin, it's time to get ready."

"Aw… But I don't _want_ to go to Tae-Kwon-Doe," whined Edwin.

"Yeah, and I don't _want_ to go to soccer," complained Lizzie.

"Sorry kiddos, but you made the commitment." Nora reminded them. "Go get ready."

"Do we _have_ too?" they whined.

"Yes. Now, go get ready." George said.

Lizzie and Edwin reluctantly left the couch and trudged up the stairs.

"Hey! Keep it down, Casey is still sleeping." George yelled after them.

Derek shoveled more cereal into his mouth.

Silence filled the house for a moment.

"I'm full," said Marti, pushing her bowl away from her.

"Ok, Marti," Nora began. "You need to get ready for your play-date with Alice."

"Ok!" Marti said excitedly. She stood up and rushed up the stairs.

As she rushed up the stairs, Edwin and Lizzie came down.

"Ready?" George asked.

"Yep."

"Alright, I'm just gonna throw on something, and then we'll go, okay?"

"Yep." Lizzie said, her and Edwin plopping down in front of the T.V., while George and Nora rushed downstairs and Derek shoveled another spoonful of Frosty Pops in to his mouth. Suddenly, a yell came from upstairs.

"DERE-REK!" yelled the voice from upstairs. Seconds later, Casey came downstairs, in a light blue tank-top; pink plaid bottoms and her bunny slippers.

"Oh, good, _you're_ up." Derek mumbled into his cereal.

"What is it, Case?" asked Nora, returning upstairs wearing a simple outfit of blue jeans and a white tee-shirt, car keys in hand and baby-bump just visible. George wasn't far behind her.

"Well, last night, _after_ my argument with _Derek_, I went to bed. And then imagine my surprise to wake up to find a big _hole_ in my _wall_! And I _know_ that no one other than _Derek_ was awake then."

"Derek, is that true? Did you enter Casey's room and punch the wall?" Nora and George shot disapproving looks at Derek.

"Enter Casey's room? In the middle of the night? Yeah, right. It's a death sentence in itself." Derek paused. "Besides, if I _had_ punched the wall, it'd've made so much noise."

"He's _lying_," Casey clenched her teeth together.

"No I'm n-"

"Stop it, both of you." George yelled. "Now look, we don't have time to deal with this. We'll talk about it when we come back." George pulled on his coat. "Edwin, Lizzie, get in the car. We gotta go."

"Roger," Edwin said, while they gathered their things, and raced out the door, followed by George, who said a quick good bye and ran to the car.

Nora, on the other hand, was the unlucky one this morning. Not only were they running late now for Marti's play-date, but she was also stuck with Derek and Casey's squabble.

At least they weren't talking.

"Come on Marti, were going to be late," Nora hollered.

"Coming," Marti came down the stairs. "Nora, there's a _really_ big hole in Casey's room."

"Marti, did you go in my room without asking?" Casey questioned.

"I didn't have to," she began. "You can see it from the door."

* * *

A deafening silence swept through the mostly empty home. Derek and Casey faced each other.

"Are you going to tell me _why_ there's a big ass hole in my wall?" Casey pursed her hands on her hips.

"Well, let's think." Derek said sarcastically. "It couldn't have something to do with the fact you left with some random guy last night."

"Drop it, Derek."

"No, Casey, _you_ drop it. That shit-for-brains is trouble, and everyone knows that. But yet, _you_, of all people, are involved with him! God, Casey, for a smart person, you're such an idiot!"

"You don't even know him."

"I know that he's not right for-"

"Don't you fucking say that! All I hear from you and Emily and Sally and _everyone_ else is that he's trouble and he's no good for me. Maybe, if you all weren't so goddamn ignorant and bigoted, you'd see that he's actually nice and sweet and kind,"

"Like hell he is," Derek smirked.

"What's the heck is that supposed to mean?"

"It _means_ that he's deceiving you, Casey! I've known that kid since grade 5 and he's _always_ been a dick. He's probably just pretending to be all those things to get in your pants…"

"No, he's not Derek! He's not like that! He doesn't treat me like crap, or pressures me to sleep with him. He's a _good guy_," she paused. "And _doesn't _force himself on me." Casey's last few words were like a knife, stabbing Derek, reminding him of last night. He sure as hell didn't want it to have gone the way that it did.

"Now, what's _that_ supposed to mean?" Derek asked, attempting to mock Casey.

"That _means_ that instead of you criticizing Daniel, you ought to look at yourself, Derek."

"That's not fair, Casey."

"And how is it not? It's no different than what you're doing."

"No, it isn't! You know that that was _not_ how I wanted it to go."

"Derek, you sexually assaulted me in Sam's basement. If it wasn't for Max intervening, you probably wouldn't have stopped."

"I was drunk."

"The fuck's that got to do with anything?"

"It has _everything _to do with it, Casey!" Derek yelled. Casey stood there, almost daring him to say his next work. "Besides, you _obviously_ feel something for me. Need I remind you that _you_ did kiss me back last night?"

"I didn't kiss you back, and I sure as hell don't have feelings for you in _that_ way. Right now, the only things _I_ feel towards _you_ are hatred and disgust." Casey huffed.

"Quit lying." He took a step closer to her. His eyes showed that he meant business, almost determined to prove her wrong.

"I'm not lying." She responded more confidently, returning his "I-mean-business" glance.

"Yes, you are." Derek smiled as he took another step closer, when suddenly; there was a knock at the door.

"I'm _not_ lying!" She retorted; her hands clenched into fists.

Casey turned around, hitting Derek in the face with her long, dark brown hair. She walked over to the door in that way she had, Derek couldn't help but stare.

Casey opened the door.

"Hi Case," a familiar voice said. It was Emily.

Casey closed the door, and Emily walked into the McDonald-Venturi household. She was carrying a couple binders.

_Fuck,_ Derek thought. He had completely spaced about Emily.

"Here are the notes you wanted," she said, handing Casey the blue binder that was in her arms.

"Thanks Em. You're the best!"

"I know!" She smiled. "Oh, morning Derek."

"Morning,"

"You ready for our date this afternoon?" She asked.

"Yep," Derek yawned, scratching his head. "Pick you up at 5."

"See ya then."

"Yup, see ya." Derek smiled.

Casey opened the big front door and Emily walked out, smiling at Casey. She closed the door behind Emily.

Casey's smile was gone.

Suddenly, the phone rang.

* * *

**AllYours~**

**Heeey Y'all!**

**Soo, here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoyed it.**

**Here's the dealio: I've actually written 2 more chapters and am working on a 3rd for _Study Buddies. _And because March Break is coming up, I promise to put as many as 5 (Maybe less) up (One each weekday) during mine so that you all won't be bored, and I won't be too.**

**That sound good? I'm soooo into writing it, it's crazy!**

**I'll update soon, Little Monsters**

**AllYours**


	9. If Only They Knew

**Study Buddies**

**LWD Fan Fiction**

*DISCLAMER: I don't own LWD. *

**CHAPTER 9: If Only They Knew…**

Derek silently thanked the heavens as he raced to the kitchen to get the phone.

"What's up?" Derek said into the receiver.

"Oh, hi Dad... Yeah, Casey and I haven't killed each other... Ok... See ya then... Ok... Yes, I know... Yes, I know... Yes, I know!... Stop nagging me, old man!... It's an expression... Jeez!... Nothing!... Ok, Bye!" Casey heard Derek slam the phone back into the cradle.

Derek walked back into the living room, the belt of his muted deep-olive green robe swaying as he walked closer to her.

Casey pursed her arms across her chest. "What was that about?" Casey asked.

"Nora and George stopped at the hardware store to pick up the supplies to fix the hole in your wall-"

"That you made," Casey added, interrupting him.

"Not the point!" Derek yelled, holding up his hand. Casey just hit it away. "_Anyways_, they're gonna be another 10 minutes."

"Great," Casey mumbled sarcastically. "I'm stuck with you for another _eternity,_" She rolled her eyes. After last night and Sam's party, she definitely didn't want to be anywhere near him. Alone. Even for 10 minutes.

"Oh, cheer _up_!" he said, touching her arm.

"Don't touch me, Derek." Casey said, using all of her will-power so as _not_ to punch him in the face.

"Fine," Derek took his hand off her arm and a devious smile grew on his face.

"Not touching you," he said, leaning closer to her.

"Not touching you," he said again, about to kiss her.

"Not touching you," he said one last time.

Just before they kissed, Casey realized what was happening.

"No, Derek," she put her hands on his chest. "I can't let this happen again." She paused. "What happened between us last night, well, it _can't_ happen again. I didn't tell Daniel about what happened last night, and he doesn't need to know. But this can't happen again."

"God, Casey, why do you always have to push me away in the heat of it all?" his voice was a whisper

She didn't answer, just looked away.

"You know, Casey, one of these days, I'm not going to be able to stop myself, let alone you'll be able to stop me."

Casey was still looking away as Derek turned away and went up the stairs. She heard his door slam shut.

* * *

Nora and George sat at the table, across from Derek and Casey, who reluctantly sat beside each other.

"Well," George crossed his arms, looking at Derek. "We're waiting."

Derek looked at his hands on the table. Casey stared at her lap. It was still hard to look at him.

"Derek, what happened with you and Casey last night?" Nora asked. "We heard you and Casey arguing."

Derek sighed.

"Derek," George growled.

"When I asked Casey to help me study, I took her diary and was reading it in my room up until _she_ entered. I read her entry on Daniel and got pissed off that I didn't know, because he's in my gym class and I hate him. Happy?" He looked up. He and Casey both knew that half of it was a lie.

"Casey, is that what happened?" Nora asked.

"Yeah," Casey didn't look up from her lap.

"What about the wall?" George asked loudly.

No one spoke.

"What. About. The wall?" George was getting angry.

"I did it," mumbled Casey, still looking down at her lap. "I just blamed it on Derek because I was pissed off with him last night."

"No, _she's_ lying," Derek said. "I did it. I was pissed off at her so to freak her out, I punched the wall."

"No, _I_ did it," Casey said.

"No,_ I_ did," rebutted Derek.

"No, I did,"

"No, I did,"

"ENOUGH!" George yelled. "Since we're not getting the truth out of _either_ of you, _you both_ need to repair the wall. And pay us back for the supplies. And as for you, Derek, you're grounded, for stealing Casey's diary _and_ reading it."

"But Dad-"

"No, Derek, you caused this upon yourself."

"But Dad, tonight's mine and Emily's 6 week anniversary! We've been planning this for _weeks_!"

"It _is_ true, George." Nora protested. "It's really important to him."

George thought it over for a moment. "Fine, Derek, you're not grounded. _But_ you are going to do all of Casey's chores for a week."

"Deal," he mumbled.

* * *

Derek stared at his reflection in the bathroom, finger-combing his hair to perfection. It had to have that sexy-messy vibe to be perfect for his date.

He stopped and thought for a moment. Tonight was their 6-week anniversary. This was his second or third longest relationship. He had so many, it was hard to keep track.

He was supposed to tell Emily that he "loved" her tonight. That was his rule; 6 weeks equals love, and he was going to tell her whether he felt it or not.

But he though some more. He thought about the conversation he had with Jenny on the phone last night.

_"Look Jen-"_

_"I just wanted to know if you wanted to hang out later." _

_"Jenny, I've told you a dozen times: No! I'm with Emily now."_

_"I know. But I thought you might want something on the side, if things go south."_

_"No. I love Emily."_

_"But-" _

_"No." _

He told her that he "loved" Emily.

But that was a lie. And he knew it.

He thought about Sam, and how he had encouraged him to tell "Emily" he loved her.

And he was all for it too.

_If only they knew…_

Derek glanced at his watch. It was 10 to 5.

The reality was he was in love with his girlfriend's best friend.

_If only they knew…_

**AllYours~ Corner**

**Happy Monday!**

**So, it's day one of March Break, and I'm actually doing something today. AMAZING! Anywhoo, I hope you like this chapter. And have an awesome Spring Break (Either now, before, or later) and Enjoy.**

**See you tomorrow, Little Monsters!**

**AllYours**


	10. Sheffield Avenue

**Study Buddies**

LWD Fan Fiction

*DISCLAMER: I don't own LWD. *

**CHAPTER 10: Sheffield Avenue**

"I'm going now!" Derek yelled, running down the stairs.

Edwin looked up from Derek's chair.

"Date tonight?" he asked, eagerly.

"Yup." Derek slid on his leather jacket.

"Cool," Edwin remarked, then went back to his T.V. show.

Marti looked up and George set down his paper.

"Bye Derek," she yelled, waving from the kitchen table. She was colouring a picture. Her markers and crayons were spread out all over the entire table.

Derek groped around the outside of his jacket, looking for his wallet, when Casey walked into the living room, on her way up to her room. She had a book and a mug of Green Tea in her hands.

As soon as she saw him, she stopped walking. It was almost like she was afraid to cross him, terrified to meet his gaze.

Derek, on the other hand, could do nothing but stare at her.

Everyone in the room could sense the awkwardness between them; it was that obvious.

They just stood there, until finally:

"What's up with you two?" Lizzie asked, breaking the silence.

"N-nothing," Casey managed to answer. She was just standing there, paralyzed with fear. Fear that Derek might try something.

Derek glanced at his watch "I'm off." He said, finding his wallet in his back pocket of his jeans. "I'll be back by eight."

"Later," he flashed everyone a "peace"-like hand gesture-wave and closed the door behind him.

* * *

It was awesome that Emily lived just next door to him. It meant that he didn't have to factor transportation time into his whole "picking-you-up" thing. Well _that_, and he could save gas money.

He took a deep breath, and knocked on the Davies' door.

_Tap-tap-tap_.

He immediately shoved his hands into his pockets. Derek was unusually nervous. But it was just _Emily_. They'd been dating awhile and known each other for years.

Much to his surprise (and his dismay), Emily's dad answered the door.

Mr. Davies had a slightly disapproving expression on his face.

"Oh, Derek, come in." Mr. Davies stepped aside and allowed Derek to enter.

Derek's eyes wandered around the main floor of their house.

The Davies and the McDonald-Venturi's houses differed. _A lot_. For instance, it was really clean. But it wasn't the "my-friends-are-coming-over-so-lets-make-it-super-clean-so-that-it's-clean" way, it was more of an "everyday-clean-home" clean. But nonetheless it was still clean.

Then there was the furniture. The furniture at Derek's house was old, worn, and (let's face it) ugly. Here it was, well, _nice_. The rooms here were pretty and modern, with leather furniture in deep, dark colors.

Mrs. Davies entered the living room.

"Hi Derek," she smiled. Emily's mum was certainly nicer than Emily's dad right now.

"Come on in, make yourself at home."

"Do you mind if I leave my shoes on?" he asked.

"No, not at all," Emily's mum beamed. "Emily'll be down in a few,"

Emily's dad just glared at him, arms crossed, and shooting him looks and glances. Derek was getting uncomfortable.

He sat on the leather furniture, fidgeting with his thumbs and listening to the sound of the clock _tick_, as well as Emily's mum's low soft voice, singing in the kitchen. And he waited for what seemed like eternity (but was actually about 4 and a 1/2 minutes)

He let out an inaudible sigh of relief when he saw Emily walking down the stairs.

"Sorry I took so long." She smiled. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah, if you are," Derek stood up from the leather loveseat and walked passed Emily's dad to meet Emily, who was slinging her bag onto her shoulder.

Derek was about to reach for the door knob, but decided to wait for Emily to slip on her shoes.

"Have her back by 8," Her dad grunted as they left the house.

Derek opened the door and Emily waved 'goodbye' to her parents.

"Bye mom! Bye dad!" She waved to them and her mom poked her head out of the kitchen.

"Bye sweetheart, have fun!"

"But not too much," her dad added.

"I heard that!" yelled her mom.

Emily waved one last time, then closed the door behind her and took a step closer to Derek. He grabbed her hand and they interlocked their fingers and Emily playfully swung their arms.

"So, Dere, what do you have planned for us tonight?" she asked, biting her lip.

"Well, I was thinking grab dinner at Mettzo, then go get ice cream at Carlos' Parlour. Sound good?"

"Perfect," Emily stood on her tip-toes to kiss him.

Derek led her over to the car and opened the door for her.

"Thanks," she smiled, getting into the car.

"Welcome,"

Derek closed the door and walked around the parked car to get in. He put his seatbelt on, started the car and backed out of the driveway.

_[AN: Always wear your seatbelt, it's very important. I cannot stress that enough. Do that whenever possible in the car. Thanks 3]_

"Dinner was awesome. Thanks!" Emily leaned into Derek, in a very flirty manor, fingers interlaced.

"No problem," he smiled. "You're worth it."

* * *

Derek had this all planned out: Take Emily to Mettzo, then go get ice cream from Carlos' and then eat and walk to High Meadows Park, which was just down the road from the ice cream parlour and he'd say those three words to her there. It was perfect. It was foolproof. And best of all, he knew that his feelings Casey couldn't fuck this up.

They crossed the street and turned onto Sheffield Avenue, where Carlos' Parlour was.

Derek smiled at Emily as they got on Sheffield. But when he turned his head again, he saw something.

Casey had just fucked this night up.

Right in front, standing right outside of Carlos' Parlour, was Daniel.

* * *

**AllYours Corner**

**Happy (Belated) Tuesday! **

**Sorry for not formatting. I did it now, so that's all that matters. :)**

**See ya soon, Little Monsters**

**AllYours~**


	11. CocoNutty Banana Monkey

Study Buddies

LWD Fan Fiction

*DISCLAMER: I don't own LWD. But I do own Daniel and the street names.*

**CHAPTER 11: Coco-Nutty Banana Monkey**

Daniel was sitting at one of the picnic table, surrounded by his 'minions', as everyone at school called them. He thankfully hadn't noticed Derek, which was a good thing, right now.

"Just ignore him, Derek." Emily advised.

"Yeah, okay." Derek didn't take his eyes off of Daniel.

"Hey, Em," Derek broke his concentrated gaze. "Can you go get us ice cream? I think my dad's calling and I need to answer it."

"Sure… What kind do you want?"

"Surprise me." He pulled out his wallet from his pocket and handed her a $10 bill, kissed her on the cheek and waited until she disappeared into the store.

Derek once happy expression turned to anger and he walked towards Daniel and his crew.

"Hey, Daniel," Derek said, approaching him.

"What?" he looked over at Derek.

Derek punched Daniel straight in the face.

"What the fuck, Derek!" Daniel held his hand over his face. "What the hell was that for?"

"Stay the _fuck_ away from Casey!" Derek growled.

"Why do you give a shit? _You're_ with _Emily_ now and besides, _Casey_ is your _step-sister_."

"It doesn't matter. All that does is that you stay as far away from her as possible."

"Who's gonna stop me? You?"

"You're damn right I am!"

"Well it doesn't matter what you want, Derek, its Casey's choice. And last time I checked; She. Chose. Me."

"I don't give a shit that she chose you; all I care about is that you stay the FUCK away from her!" Derek clenched his fists.

"Why the hell should I?"

"Because she doesn't need a good-for-nothing asshole like _you_ for a boyfriend,"

Daniel was about to respond, when Derek heard his name. He turned to see Emily, at least 10 feet behind him, with their ice cream cones in her hand. She didn't look mad, which was good.

"You better stay away from her." Derek warned one last time before joining Emily.

* * *

"What was that about?" she asked, liking the ice cream from the cone.

"I just asked him about what happened in Gym on Friday. I was away for a bit."

"Oh, okay." She smiled.

She reached for his hand again and grabbed it. He looked at her and smiled.

They arrived at the entrance to the park and stat down on the bench to finish their ice cream.

"Mmm… this is really good. What flavour did ya pick?" he asked.

"It's Coco-Nutty Banana Monkey. It's good, isn't it? My little brother loves it."

"De-lish."

They both finished their ice cream and then Derek laughed.

"What?" Emily asked. "What's so funny?"

"You have ice cream on your face."

"WHERE?" Emily freaked out, touching her face. It was actually on her upper lip.

"Right… there," he kissed her. "All gone," he pulled away and smiled.

* * *

"Race ya to the swings," They got up from the bench and ran, laughing and smiling, all the way to the playground. They reached the swings in a whirlwind of laughter and each took one of the swings.

Derek swung back and forth slowly, while Emily swung faster and higher. He was having second thoughts about this.

This wasn't fair to Emily. It just wasn't. He'd lied to her countless times before and already twice tonight (soon to be three if he told her that he 'loved' her). But he was caught between a rock and a hard place now; if he lied to her, she'd be happy but he wouldn't, and if he told her the truth, she'd hate him _and_ Casey. And Casey needed Emily.

He glanced over at her. She had liked him for years, and was thrilled when Derek realized that he 'liked' her too. He couldn't take that away from her; that would be cruel and insensitive. And though he may act like that on the outside, he wasn't really like that.

But he loved Casey, and that would never change.

But Casey was with someone else; Daniel. He didn't deserve her. Hell, at this rate, Derek didn't either. Nonetheless, there was something there. They both knew it and they both felt it, it was just that Casey hadn't realized fully.

He sighed.

"What is it?" Emily asked, slowing down her speed.

Derek had made his decision.

"Emily, I have something to tell you."

She sat up and turned to face him. Derek just stared at his hands.

Emily's heart fluttered. Could it be? He was going to say to her those three little words. Words that she had always dreamed of, coming out of his mouth, directed to her.

"Emily, I-" he choked. _Why aren't those words coming out_, he thought. He tried again.

"I-"

The words still weren't coming out. He couldn't will himself to say those three little words. Those three little words that had caused him so much pain, so much pleasure. He couldn't follow through. The truth always got out somehow.

"Emily, I'm going to say this to you. I need you to listen to it, okay?"

She nodded.

"I-" he looked away from her. "I'm in love with Casey."

Emily's jaw dropped open. She clasped her hands over her mouth.

They sat in silence for a couple minutes. Derek pushed himself back as Emily just gaped.

"Well," he began. "Say _something_,"

* * *

**AllYours' Corner**

**Happy Wednesday!**

**Just a heads up: Next chapter is gonna be a bit shorter than normal.**

**OH, and in case you're wondering... On Friday, I'll not only post the 13th Chapter, but post the 1st chapter of my new LWD FF. **

**Love ya, Little Monsters**

**AllYours**


	12. Tripped And Fell So Deep

**Study Buddies**

LWD Fan Fiction

*DISCLAMER: I don't own LWD.*

**CHAPTER 12: Tripped And Fell So Deep, I Can't Come Down**

Emily sat there, jaw open. She was still processing this. Emotions were flying through her head. She looked at him but said nothing; wishing, wanting, hoping that she had just imagined this entire moment.

"I'm sorry. It sorta just happened." Derek said finally, after the silence.

Emily snapped to attention. This was real. This was reality. Anger and confusion flowed through her but she didn't know what to do, what to say. How to explain to him her emotions. She managed to scrounge some words together.

"My best friend… How could you?"

"Look, Em-"

"Save it." She leaped off the swing and started walking back to the entrance.

Derek chased after her. "Wait," he grabbed her wrist and she turned.

"Just leave me alone, Derek." She pulled it away from him and broke into a slow run.

"Emily, wait!" he chased after her again. She stopped and turned around.

"What?" she barked, turning around to face him. He noticed that tears were filling her eyes.

"I don't want you to be mad, you just need to listen-"

"Mad? Oh I'm not mad." Derek breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm pissed, Derek. I can't believe that you would do this to me."

"I didn't want it to go this far, Em."

"Don't you 'Em' me, Derek."

"Just let me explain, Emily. Please,"

"Why should I?"

"Because you don't know the half of it. Do you know how hard I fought with myself to tell you 'I love you'? I wanted to tell you. I wanted you to be happy! But I couldn't, and I'm sorry. I didn't want to lead you on; believe me, I didn't."

"That doesn't change this, Derek. It doesn't change that you _lied_ to me, that you _led_ me on. It doesn't change how much time I spent thinking about you, hoping that you'd like me too. Do you know how much that hurts?"

She walked back towards him, until they were face to face. "Do you know how much you hurt me?"

"I can't imagine how it must feel for you. But I never meant to hurt you, Emily. I don't want to lose you as a friend."

"Should've thought of that before this," she turned and walked away.

But before she could take three steps, Derek reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her back.

"Let go of me,"

"Listen to me,"

"No, let go of me!"

"Not until you listen to me!"

"Let go of me!" she cried.

"No!"

"I hate you, Derek! I HATE YOU!" She began to hit his chest. She punched and hit him with all she had. She hated him, and wanted him to suffer.

Derek didn't flinch. Hockey had helped him toughen up, so to him, this was nothing.

Her attacks got slower until she bursted into tears. Derek wrapped his arms around her, as she leaned into him. She didn't care right now that this was Derek comforting her; she just needed someone to do it.

And they just stood there; Emily crying, and Derek comforting her.

"I never wanted you to get hurt," he restated again, his voice softer.

She pulled away and wiped her eyes. She had stopped crying.

"Then why did you do it?" she asked.

"I don't know." He sighed. "Maybe to try to talk myself out of loving her,"

* * *

Derek drove the car into his driveway, putting it in 'Park' and taking out the key. It was a silent ride back.

Emily got out of the car. She was about to close the door when Derek began to speak.

"Are we still friends?" he asked.

She nodded, but didn't say anything. She just closed the door, and walked towards her house.

Derek watched and waited until she entered her house. Once she did, he got out of the car.

He shoved his hands into his pockets, and walked to the front door and entered the house.

* * *

Nora looked up from the pile of assorted letters, bills and flyers that were spread across the kitchen table.

Derek hung up his leather jacket on the hook. Lizzie, Marti and Edwin were all on the couch watching T.V

"How did it go tonight?" Nora asked.

"I don't wanna talk about it," he sighed.

"Sounds like he got dumped," Edwin whispered over to Lizzie. She giggled.

Derek rolled his eyes up the stairs and headed straight to his room.

* * *

Casey opened her closet doors and peered inside. She needed something to wear tonight.

She finally decided on white graphic tee, a pink plaid sweater and a black ruffled mini skirt.

As she stripped off her sweatshirt, she walked over to the mirror. Staring at her reflection, she pulled off her sports bra and her eyes fell down to the bite mark. It wasn't as bad as it was yesterday. Bit by bit, it was getting better, but she still couldn't look at it. She put on a different bra and slid on the rest of her clothes fast.

Daniel would be here any minute now.

* * *

**AllYours Corner**

**Happy Thursday!**

**Can you believe it? My Spring Break is almost over :( **

**Anywhoo, get ready for tomorrow, becasue it's gonna be a big day! My new LWD fanfic will be up, as well as the next chapter. **

**Some of you may be wondering what Daniel looks like, so just search up "Heathers JD" on and that's who I'm aming for.**

**Love ya, Little Monsters!**

**~AllYours**


	13. These Eyes, They See More Than You Know

**Study Buddies**

LWD Fan Fiction

*DISCLAMER: I don't own LWD. But I do own Daniel and the street names.*

**CHAPTER 13: ****These Eyes, They See More Than You Know**

The doorbell rang.

"It's for me!" Casey yelled, rushing down the stairs.

She ran to the door and opened it. Daniel was leaning against the door, looking cool.

"Hey," he said, smiling at her. He ran a hand through his shaggy black hair, pushing it back and off of his face.

"Hey," she smiled back. "I just gotta grab my stuff and then we'll go, 'kay?"

"No prob. Mind if I come in?"

"No, go ahead." Casey stepped aside, letting him in.

Nora looked up at him. "Hi Daniel," she greeted.

"Hi Mrs. McDonald,"

Casey slipped on her sneakers and grabbed her purse. "Ready?" he asked.

She nodded "I'll be back around 11. Later!" She hollered to the family.

* * *

Casey glanced over at him. God, he was hot.

Daniel had shaggy, black hair; a killer smile and deep, dark eyes. He was different than the guys that she had dated before; he was tough, and dangerous. He was a mystery to her. But he made her feel safe, and protected. She knew he would never hurt her, that he would take care of her. He was also kind and considerate; when he called they would talk for hours about their hopes and dreams, their fears and regrets. To her, he was perfect.

"What are we gonna do tonight?" she asked.

"I was thinking we could go up to Port Stanley. You cool with that?"

"Yeah, I love it there,"

"Cool,"

They pulled up to a red light. Daniel looked over at her as he pushed on the brake. The car came to a stop relatively fast. Casey lifted up her hand and reached for his head. His bangs had fallen in front of his face again. She pushed them back and giggled. She was giddy.

He smiled back at her.

"You're cute," Daniel smiled at Casey.

He leaned in to kiss her, and almost did until:

_HONK!_

He snapped to attention. The light had turned green, and he pushed on the gas pedal. The car revved, and sped up. After they were a certain distance away, the looked at each other. They laughed.

* * *

"Dad, I'm going out!" Derek shuffled down the stairs.

George turned his head away to Derek, who now slung on his coat again.

"But you just got back,"

"I'm just going to Sam's. I have to fill him in on my date."

"All right," George sighed. "But be back by 11."

"Yeah, yeah." Derek sighed, opening the door.

* * *

"Hey, can you grab the blankets from the back? I'll get the cooler."

"Sure," Casey walked around to the trunk of the car and popped it open. She reached in the trunk of the little Echo and pulled out a stack of five blankets, somewhat neatly folded. She closed he trunk with one hand, and joined Daniel, who was carrying the cooler with both hands.

"C'mon, let's go to the water."

They walked through the parking lot, soon on the waterfront. Casey laughed and ran down closer to the water. She opened one blanket and spread it down on the sand. Daniel set the cooler on the edge of the blanket.

Casey kicked off her shoes and socks and stepped into the water.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Going in. You should come too, the water's great!"

"Okay…"

Daniel kicked off his shoes and rolled up his pants to his knees. He slowly approached the water, while Casey went in deeper.

She was at least 25 feet away from the shore, but the water was only up to her knees.

"Are you coming in?" she asked.

"Yeah, just a sec,"

She laughed and walked to where he was. She took his hand and tried pulled him into the water.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"C'mon, it's fun!"

'Yeah, so's this!" He reached down and flicked water at her.

Casey squealed, then flicked some more at him.

This quickly escalated into a full-on water fight. By the time they were through, they were both soaked. Her hair hung from her head like seaweed, and his clothes clung to him.

Casey and Daniel dragged themselves out of the water and onto the blanket and collapsed in an instant.

"Okay, you win." Daniel looked over at her.

"Don't I always?" she responded smugly.

He laughed and grabbed two blankets from the pile and threw one at her.

"Here, you'll want it."

"Thanks,"

She took the blanket out of his hands and set it down, taking off her sopping sweater and wringing it out. Daniel peeled off his shirt and set it beside him. She noticed what he was doing

"Daniel, what are you doing? It's freezing!"

"Casey, I'll be colder _with_ it on. Stop worrying." He looked over at her. "Besides, why do ya think I brought blankets?"

She smiled as he leaned in and reached for her head, pulling her in for a kiss.

She kissed him back.

Daniel slowly lowered himself onto her, gently pushing her back onto the blanket, never breaking it.

He held himself above her.

Suddenly, Casey pushed him off.

It was happening again; sorta.

* * *

**ALLYOURS Corner**

**Hey.**

**I'm sorry that I couldn't post on Friday. Busy, busy bee. And then my computer died and I lost the new story... I was like, all my hard work! NOOO!**

**But I've updated this, so have fun. Next update shoul be this weekend or next week. **

**Love Ya!**

**~AllYours**


	14. I'm Close With My Demons

**PLEASE READ AUTHORS NOTE WHEN DONE! THANKS!**

**Study Buddies**

LWD Fan Fiction

*DISCLAMER: I don't own LWD or Wipeout. But I do own Daniel.*

**CHAPTER 14: I'm Close With My Demons**

Memories flooded back, fast.

She couldn't slow them down, or hold them back. She had lost control.

Casey was in Limbo, just fading in and out of reality. She wanted to stay here, in the now, with Daniel, but she was drawing herself back to last night. She began fighting to stay:

"_Stay with us here, you can't escape what happened between you and him, you can't. Just stay here, with your memories." _

"_No, I can't. I want to be with Daniel. I want him to love me, to need me; I can't fall back into that. I want to be here. I want to forget. I WANT TO BE HERE!"_

"_But you can't fight this. You can't fight the fact that it happened. You can't suppress this. Here's where you need to be. Stay here. With Us."_

"_If I stay with you, I'll never come out. I'll give in to it. I won't be where I want. I'll lose. I don't want to be there. I didn't ask for it to happen."_

"_But if you didn't want to be with us, this wouldn't be happening. You wouldn't be slipping into the past now."_

"_I'm not 'slipping' into the past; you're pulling me into it. I don't love Derek; I don't want him. I love Daniel; I _want_ him. Leave me alone!"_

"_But you can't let go of this. You can't escape. This will haunt you forever, and you won't be able to dismiss this. You'll have to live with this. You're trapped. You're mine!"_

* * *

"NO!" she cried.

"Casey, what's wrong?" he asked, sitting up with her. "Are you alright?"

She remained silent, while she shook it off. "I'm fine. Just a little nervous, is all." She donned a fake smile.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm fine,"

"Positive?" he raised an eyebrow.

Casey leaned over and kissed him. "Positive," she responded, pulling away.

He smiled, pulling her closer again and kissed her.

* * *

She placed a hand on his shirtless, muscular torso as he pulled her closer. He took one hand and set it upon hers as he pulled his lips away.

"Casey?"

"Yeah?"

Daniel looked her in the eyes and smiled.

"I love you."

"Daniel, I-"

Suddenly something chirped loudly.

Casey looked in the direction in which she heard the noise. It was her phone, reminding them that they had a long drive back.

"Shit," she said, glancing at it. "We gotta get going now."

"We can stay a bit longer, can't we?"

"If I do, Mom and George will freak-"

"So let them," he interrupted, sounding a bit annoyed. "They're not gonna care if you're a few minutes late."

"No, believe me, they will. They already extended my curfew from 10 to 11 just so I could go out with you and warned me not to be late."

"I'm sure you could make up some excuse, like we were caught in traffic,"

"There's hardly any traffic at this hour,"

"Work with me here," he pleaded. "I just wanna be with you a while longer."

* * *

Derek knocked on the large, grey door.

He glanced at his watch; it was only 9:29. He would've been there sooner, but he took a detour to kill time. After all, who said it was cool to be on time?

Sam's mom answered the door. She had blonde hair, like Sam, that was down to her shoulders and was wearing a teal shirt, flow-y grey cardigan and jeans.

"Sam's in the basement, waiting for you." He didn't have to say anything; she knew why he was here.

Mrs. Richards stepped aside, allowing Derek to enter. He kicked off his shoes and entered through the door to the basement.

* * *

Sam was sitting on the couch in the family room, feet up on the coffee table and a bowl of popcorn in his lap. He was eating away at it, mindlessly shoving some into his mouth every few moments, while a mindless game show flashed in front of him on his big screen T.V.

Derek walked down the stairs and Sam looked over at him.

"Hey, man," he greeted. "You're late."

"I took a detour to kill some time," Derek shrugged.

"Whatever. Just sit down, _Wipeout_'s on."

"Awesome," he smiled, jumping over the back part of the couch. He put his feet up on the table and grabbed the popcorn bowl out of Sam's lap and set it in his. He began to eat it, shoving handfuls at a time.

"Dude, stop hogging all the popcorn!" Sam grabbed the bowl from him.

"Mut it's shooo groood!" Derek retorted, mouth half full of popcorn.

Sam sighed and set the bowl in between them.

* * *

The next half hour was filled with laughter and popcorn-eating. Wipeout had just ended, and the boys were bored.

"I gonna go get some pop, you want anything?"

"Yeah, cream soda."

"Got it," Sam stood up and went upstairs.

Derek grabbed the cable remote from the table and flicked through the channels. Other than stupid movies and lame reality T.V, there was nothing on. He sighed, and decided to watch music videos. He shoved another handful of popcorn into his mouth.

"Anything good on?" Sam yelled from upstairs.

"Nope, nothing."

Sam returned shortly, a can of cola and cream soda in each hand.

"Here," he said, handing it to Derek. "Since there's nothing good on, what'd'ya wanna do?"

"I don't know. How 'bout foosball?"

"Sure,"

* * *

**AllYours Corner**

**Hola,**

**There are a couple things in this chapter that need to be cleared up:**

**First, the conversation in the first little part is her, arguing with herself. Well, sorta. She's arguing with her imagination.**

**Second, notice how Casey hadn't the chance to say "I love you" back to him... Just remember that...**

**Third, and finally, there is a time difference between Derek and Casey. And no, it's not because she and Daniel are in a different time zone, it's just the way I wrote it.**

**Love ya!**


	15. I've Never Taken The Fall For Deceit

**Study Buddies**

LWD Fan Fiction

*DISCLAMER: I don't own LWD. But I do own Daniel.*

**CHAPTER 15: I've Never Taken The Fall For Deceit **

"Prepare to get your ass kicked!" Sam joked, readying himself for the ball-drop.

Derek dropped the ball in the center, and reached for his forwards.

"I should warn you, I've been practising at Ralph's. I've got a killer shot," Derek smiled as he finished, scoring the first goal.

Sam smiled back. "That was a lucky shot,"

"Nope; skill."

"Sure it was..."

* * *

"So how was your date with Emily tonight?" he asked as he turned his mid-fielders forward, hitting the ball back to Derek's defence. The score was 3-2, with Derek wining.

"I don't wanna talk about it," Derek turned his goalie and wacked the ball back to Sam. The entire date seemed to play through his head again, as if he was re-living it.

Nothing was said after that between the two best friends; Sam was waiting for Derek to say something, while Derek had nothing to say (Well, nothing he _wanted_ to say).

Sam grew puzzled. Their silence had consumed three minutes now. See, normally, Derek couldn't wait to rub a hot date in his face, especially since he hadn't really dated too many people after Casey. There were a few girls here and there, but nothing special.

Sam made the executive decision to start up the conversation again.

"Did ya see last night's hockey game?"

"Yeah, a bit, but I missed the ending... Who won?"

"Carolina, 4-2."

"Wow,"

The conversation was definitely strained. Sam attributed it to the game at first, thinking Derek was really intent to beat him. But then he got to thinking...

That _couldn't_ be it, could it? He thought back to six minutes prior to this. He asked Derek about his date. He knew that something was up then... That must be it: the date.

It had to be.

* * *

The lack of decent conversation (let alone trash-talk) between them was even unbearable for Derek.

However, Derek was fighting with himself again. On one hand, he wanted to tell him everything; that he didn't tell Emily that he loved her, that tonight was one of the worst nights of his life, and worst of all(or best of all, he couldn't decide) that he was in love with Casey. Yet at the same time, he didn't want to tell him anything. He didn't need to know that he lied to him, let alone that he wanted the only girl (outside of his mother, grandmothers and aunts) that Sam had loved and as far as Derek knew, still did.

Derek though about the last time that he had taken away a girl from Sam:

"_Hey, Derek, some girl named Katie is on the phone, she wants to talk to you." George held the phone out for the 12 year old Derek to grab._

"_Thanks," He held the phone up to his ear. "Hello?"_

"_Hey Sam," Derek said over the phone. "What's up?"_

"_Wanna hang out tonight? My sister's are out, so we'll have the house to ourselves."_

"_Man, I'd love too, but I can't. Katie and I are gonna go see a movie,"_

"_Wait. You don't mean Katie Watts, do you?"_

"_Yeah, that's her,"_

"_Derek, how could you? You _know_ I like her!"_

"_Sorry, Sam, but she asked me. I couldn't say no."_

"_I never want to talk to you again..."_

_BEEP! "Hello?"_

_The line was dead._

It had taken Derek almost a month to smooth things over with him after that. That's how they learned about the male code. They needed _something_ to abide by so that this would never happen again. Of course, Sam had forgotten about it when he wanted to date Casey, so they were even.

Derek wasn't actually thrilled with that then; he didn't know why, but it rubbed him the wrong way. Least he knew why that bothered him now...

* * *

"You wanna talk about it now?" Sam asked.

"Nope..."

Still nothing...

"How did it go when you told her? Can you at least tell me that?"

"Look, I really don't wanna talk about it."

"Why don't you?"

"Sam, I don't want to talk about it! I just don't, okay? Can you drop it?" Derek yelled.

"Okay, dude, chill out." Sam held up his hands in protest. "I was just curious."

"Well don't be,"

"Fine,"

* * *

Sam realized in an instant that something was up; that something wasn't right. There was wrong with this. And he was determined to find out what it was.

But as far as he knew, Derek wasn't telling, so he'd either have to convince him to tell, or work his way to Emily. Either way, this wouldn't be an easy task.

* * *

"C'mon, Daniel, help me gather this up!" Casey asked, picking up a blanket and folding it neatly

"Just relax, Casey," Daniel laid back, tucking his arms behind this head.

"No, Daniel, we _have_ to go now. Mom and George'll kill me if I'm not home by 11,"

"Maybe I don't wanna. Maybe I just want to stay here. With you." Daniel said, almost child-like.

"You know I don't want to go either,"

"So then stay,"

"But they'll kill me if I'm late... Please Daniel? Help me?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

He sighed. "Fine, I'll help."

"Thank you," Casey smiled.

Daniel got up and grabbed the blanket that was on the sand and shook it out, ridding it of all the sand that might've been left on it. He folded it (very messy though) and tossed it over to her.

"I have an idea, though. About how we can _both_ win." he smiled slyly, cooler in hand. "But you have to trust me, 'kay?"

* * *

**Hola, y'all.**

**Figure you know that this little space here is my comment. Anyways, this was a pretty hard one to write, as was\is the next one, which might be up on Sunday... I don't know. **

**Hope you all have great infering skills because I've been dropping some hints in this chapter through foreshadowing.** **I have something thrilling planned for chapter 18 or 19, depending on how the writing goes. Also, check out my friend's band Crash The Sky on YouTube. Their Channel is CrashTheSky1. They don't have any songs up yet, but hopefully, they will soon.**

**BTW, quick question: I got a comment from Nikki Gargol, that sad "Daniel is so bad ass!" Just wondering if that's a bad thing, you know? **

**Oh, and To Dark-Supernatural-Angel who wrote: "What exactly is happening again? Because it seemed to mean that Daniel was going further with Casey like he planned...dip in the lake would definitely lead to them 'cuddling' together to get warm under the sheets." **

**Nothing like that happened. Just a whole lotta kissyface. That's it. But I loved the idea. Wished I thought of it first :) **

**However, if everything works out right in my head, Daniel and Casey will be going farther. DUN DUN DUNNNNNN!**

**Not liking him too much, eh? **

**Take care, **

**AllYours**


	16. If We Stop Time Tonight,

**Study Buddies**

LWD Fan Fiction

*DISCLAMER: I don't own LWD. But I do own Daniel.*

**CHAPTER 16: If We Stop Time Tonight, There Would Be No Goodbye**

Derek hated the fact that he acted like that to Sam. It made him feel bad. Sure, he could be that way to Edwin and Lizzie, but they weren't his best friend. They hadn't been there with him through thick and thin. But as much as Derek hated the way that he acted, he probably (though maybe he wouldn't admit it) wouldn't have done anything different. He still needed an action plan. But right now, telling him everything seemed the best. He felt bad about with-holding the truth from him, and he really wanted to know. Sam cared.

However, what would Sam think of him if he knew the truth? Would he be mad? This made even the thought of telling him scary.

But there was one thing that he hadn't thought of: not disclosing _all_ the information. It was a win-win, but seemed like the cowards way out.

At this point, he opted for winging it.

Derek glanced at his cell. The numbers on the display read: '10:34'.

"Hey, I'm gonna go now,"

"Okay," Sam said blankly.

"Wanna come with me? We can take that detour through the forest..."

"Sure, why not."

* * *

"Look, Sam, I'm sorry that I snapped at you, it was just a hard night tonight."

"It's okay. No worries." Sam smiled.

"We're cool?"

"'Course,"

* * *

"There's something I want to tell you, but I don't know how to say it,"

"You're not in love with me, are you? Because I don't swing that way," Sam laughed.

"No, it's not _that_, it's about my date."

"Okay, what about it?" Sam shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Emily and I broke up tonight."

"Oh, Derek, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be; it was out of my control,"

"And after you told her you loved her. That's harsh, man."

"Erm… Actually, I didn't tell her that," Derek raised his hand and placed it on the back of his head.

"What?" Sam's jaw dropped.

"I didn't tell Emily I loved her. Not last night, not tonight."

"I got that part! What I _meant_ was how? You were ready, and excited! You were raving about doing it! And you texted me, saying that you told her!" Sam was, he was confused, and ranting. The pitch of his voice grew higher.

"It's complicated, believe me. I was there and I _still_ can't understand it." Derek joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Sam took a breath, stopped and faced Derek.

"Sam?" Derek asked.

"What happened tonight? Tell me _everything_. I want to know."

Derek froze. His heart pounded. Everything? Sam wanted to know everything.

"I don't know what you'd think of me if I told you everything, Sam, that's the problem. There are some things that happened that I just can't bring myself to tell you." He sighed. "Even if you _are_ my best friend."

"Why can't you, Derek? We tell each other everything!"

"But this is different, Sam. This is _very_ different."

"No, it's not! You just don't want to tell me!" He turned and began to walk away, back towards his house.

"Sam, wait!" He hollered, grabbing Sam's wrist. (Déjà vu)

Sam turned around.

"The _fuck_ do you want?" he yelled.

"I've already lost Emily, and I can't afford to lose you too."

"Then prove it; why won't you tell me?"

"Because if you knew who I really was, you'd hate me." Derek blurted out.

"I'm already starting hating you, so you've got nothing to lose,"

Derek sighed. "I couldn't tell her because I'm in love with someone else."

"What?"

* * *

"I don't know about this Daniel…" Casey looked over at him nervously.

He looked over at her, taking his eyes off of the read for a moment. "It'll be fine, don't worry. I'll be quiet."

"But it doesn't seem like a good idea. What if you're caught?" She asked.

"I won't be. But if I am, I'll take the blame."

"But it still doesn't seem like such a good idea,"

"Casey, _nothing_ bad will happen, I promise. So stop worrying."

* * *

"Why didn't you tell me? I'm your _best _friend!"

"Sam, you have to listen to me. You need to understand I couldn't tell you-"

"Save it." Sam said. "You know what? Fuck you, Derek. If you even think for one second that I wouldn't understand, you're dead wrong. Oh, and fuck you for even possibly thinking that. I'm outta here," Sam turned and began to walk away again. "I'm done with your shit."

"No, Sam, listen to me." Derek lunged after him. He managed to grab hold of Sam's shoulder, but Sam shrugged off his hand. Derek tried again, this time running in front of him.

"Get away from me."

"I couldn't tell you because I was afraid. Afraid of what you'd say. Afraid of what you'd think. Afraid that you'd hate me."

"What? Over the fact that you're in love with someone who isn't your girlfriend- correction (he said sarcastically) - _ex_-girlfriend?"

"Not that," Derek admitted.

Sam eyes scanned Derek's face. "It's _who _you're in love with."

Derek looked down and nodded.

* * *

"Who is it, Derek? You know you can tell me," Sam voice was different now; a bit more caring, less mad, but still a bit mad.

Derek tried to say her name, but nothing came out. He tried again, but met the same results. "I can't. I just can't. Not tonight. I'm sorry. I'm still straitening it out with myself." Derek said.

"Alright." Sam sort of gave up. He didn't want to argue right now.

"Thanks man, I really appreciate you backing off right now."

* * *

The two had finally reached the MacDonald-Venturi residence. They walked up to the front porch.

Sam took a breath. "I'm sorry for exploding on you like that."

"Don't worry about it."

"Let's just forget about tonight. We both were being dicks. Agreed?"

"Agreed." Sam held out his hand and Derek shook it.

Sam turned and walked down the couple steps.

"Hey Sam, you sure you don't want a ride back?"

"Naw, I'll be fine. It's a short walk."

"You sure?"

"Yup. Hey, I'll see you Monday."

"See ya,"

He watched as Sam left down the sidewalk. He waited until the darkness swallowed his friend.

Once Sam was out of sight, Derek turned to face the door and turned the doorknob and entered the house. As he entered, a car pulled up.

* * *

Casey looked over; Derek was walking into the house.

She could tell right now that this wasn't gonna go over well.

Daniel undid his seatbelt and reached for the door-release. "You coming?" he asked.

She nodded and did the same.

They both got out of the car. He walked over to her and grabbed her hand.

"It'll be fine. Just breathe."

She smiled and they walked towards the porch, hand in hand.

* * *

"Goodnight," he smiled and winked at her.

"G'night," she smiled back.

Daniel grabbed her chin with his finger and pulled her in towards him, kissing her.

He pulled away from the kiss and gave her a hug.

"Open the window once you get upstairs. I'll park my car around the corner. Okay?" Daniel whispered into her ear, pulling away.

She nodded.

"And don't worry," he added. "It'll be fine."

* * *

**Salve! (Hello in Latin)**

**So, I appoligize in advance for the crappy arguement. The only angry arguing experience I have is with my sister, so it's not very good. But I tried, which is the most important thing, right? Gotta give me credit for that, right?**

**I really want to play KH2 right now, but I'm too lazy to set up the PS2. (Random and off-topic)**

**I'm slowly developing writers block, but heavy doses of awesome music are helping to keep it at bay. But I need help. Ideas, predictions, suggestions or even just encouragement would help!**

**Oh, I've been crunching numbers in my head, and I think that the story might be around 30 chapters, give or take a few because I have a few more tricks up my sleave... That's not too long, is it?**

**Are we all hating on Daniel yet? I hope so (actually not really, but ok)! He's a very complex charactor (or will be). I'll most likely write the next, next chapter solely about him and his relationship with Casey, just so that a) I have time to gather ideas and b) you get an insite into the enigma that is this charactor I've created. I might do one about Sam too... Who knows? **

**Chapter 17 will be up some time next week. I've decided a once a week thing so that I can manage my schoolwork, friends and writing.**

**Love ya!**

**AllYours**


	17. I Fell In Your Arms Tonight

**Study Buddies**

LWD Fan Fiction

*DISCLAMER: I don't own LWD. But I do own Daniel.*

**CHAPTER 17: I Fell In Your Arms Tonight**

"I'm back!" she hollered, taking off her coat. Nora peered at her from the kitchen.

"Oh, hey Casey," she smiled. "How was it?"

"It was great. Daniel and I went to Port Stanley and sat on the beach and talked." _To be honest_, she thought, _we really didn't do much talking._

"That's good,"

"I'm gonna go to bed now. G'night,"

"Good night." Nora responded. "But be quiet; Lizzie, Edwin and Marti are asleep."

"Got it," Casey said, hanging off the side of the banister.

* * *

She silently closed the door to her bedroom, hand flat against it. She had made it upstairs and to her room with no sign of Derek, which was great right not. She wouldn't have been able to handle it. Not tonight.

She whipped off her outfit and pulled over a somewhat loose light blue tank top and slightly baggy pink plaid pants. She threw her slightly damp hair up into a loose bun.

She walked over to the mirror and took a glance at her reflection and sighed. Her nervousness had turned into giddiness now.

She sighed and smiled, looking at herself from all angles. Her pyjamas were about as flattering as miss-matched, loose clothing can get and her hair was still damp but she decided that she looked alright.

All that was left to do was wait.

* * *

Casey glanced at the clock. It had been twenty-some odd minutes since he left.

_It doesn't take him this long to park,_ she thought. She reached for the phone by her bed and held it in her hands. If he hadn't arrived in two more minutes, she'd call.

She was about to dial his cell number, which she had already memorised because it was handy, when a knock came on her window.

Casey jumped a bit, phone leaping out of her hand. It was Daniel. He smiled and waved to her from the roof. She leaped off her bed and raced over to the window and cracked it open. The screen to it was hidden in her closet.

"What took you so long?" she asked. "I was getting worried."

Daniel jumped into the room from the roof.

"Sorry, I needed these," he held up his pyjamas. She laughed.

"I'm gonna go brush my teeth, you get changed, okay?"

"Got it,"

"But be quiet," she reminded him sternly. "Lizzie's in the next room, and she's a light sleeper."

He nodded and she quietly slipped out of the room, closing the door ever so quietly.

Letting out an inaudible sigh, she headed towards the bathroom. She arrived at the door, hand almost touching the knob.

Suddenly, Derek opened the door.

* * *

She felt like her heart was going to explode, while Derek just looked at her.

"Where were you?" he asked.

"I was out on a date," she adverted her gaze. "With Daniel."

"Casey, how many times do I have to tell you before it gets into your head? He's bad news and you ought to stay away from him."

"And how many times do I have to tell _you_ to mind your damn business," she looked at him this time, which was the first time in a while that she had been able to do it.

"Look, I care about you and I don't want you to get hurt-"

"I can take care of myself. Now if you excuse me, I need to brush my teeth." She pushed her way passed him to make it to the sink.

Derek moved out of her way, rolled his eyes and headed towards his room.

* * *

Casey entered her room, closing the door behind her slowly and quietly. She had taken her hair down from the messy bun and it hung from her head. Her hair was neatly brushed and almost completely dry.

Daniel sat on her bed, in his pyjamas. He looked at her, smiled, stood up from the bed and walked over to her.

Casey and Daniel stood there in the doorway, face-to-face. (Daniel was slightly taller than her)

He reached for her head, interlacing his fingers in her hair and pulled her in towards him, kissing her. He slowly wrapped one arm around her waist, pulling her in closer. She reached up, wrapping her arms around his neck.

He pulled away, dropping his hand that was interlaced in her hair down to her waist with the other.

"What do you want to do?" she asked.

"I was perfectly happy doing what we were doing, but I'm up for anything,"

"Wanna watch a movie?" Casey suggested.

"Sure." He smiled.

He let go of her so she could walk over to a small pile of DVD's in the corner of her room, next to her laptop. She knelt down beside it.

"What do you want to watch?"

"Surprise me,"

She looked at the stack of videos and randomly selected one. She had seen them all before, so it really didn't matter to her. She grabbed her favourite movie, _Waitress_ and picked up her laptop and brought them over.

Casey set them down on the bed and went back to the corner to look for headphones. Daniel picked up the case and read the back.

"Hmm," he said. "Sounds like fun."

"It's actually a really good movie. I've seen it like a hundred times, and I still love it," she said, rummaging through her drawer. "Ah-ha! There they are!"

Casey pulled out a pair of sleek, aquamarine-coloured headphones from her sock drawer.

She walked over and plugged them in. And in a swift motion, opened the laptop and turned it on.

The laptop loaded fast and Casey opened the disc drive and placed the disk in it, closing it afterwards.

She quickly entered her password in and her desktop loaded. Her background was a photo of her and Daniel, on their third date. He had taken her to the railway tracks just for the hell of it and they had a blast.

She smiled.

"That was when we went to the railway tracks," he remarked.

"Yup,"

The media player opened and Casey grabbed an ear-bud, flipped her hair out of the way of her ear and placed it in her ear.

Daniel grabbed the other one and placed in his. She looked over at him and pressed the start button, crawling under the blankets. He followed her lead and snuggled up next to her, cuddling her into him with his arm. She set the laptop on her legs.

* * *

"That was not half bad actually," Daniel said, taking out his ear-bud. Casey took out hers and closed her laptop, setting on the floor next to bed.

"I told you, it's a really good movie."

"Would've been better if the pies blew up,"

She laughed.

She turned her head towards the alarm clock on her night table. It was 11:58.

"We should go to bed soon," she remarked. "It's late."

"Psha, I stay up _way_ later than this, even during the week."

"Doing what?" she asked.

"Listening to music, thinking about you, dreaming; the usual," He pushed his hair back. "But mostly just thinking about you."

She leaned forward and kissed him softly.

* * *

Casey rolled over to glance at her clock. It was 12:47 now.

They had spent almost an entire hour talking.

"I'm really tired. I think I'm gonna go to sleep now," she said, yawning.

"Alright," Daniel rolled over and turned off the lamp.

Darkness quickly filled the room. Casey bumped over closer to him. She pressed her ear against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her, kissing her forehead.

"G'night," she said, snuggling herself into him.

"Good night, Casey,"

* * *

Derek lay on his bed, sprawled out. His headphones were on, playing a song blaring at full volume. He was motionless, just listening to the sound of indie rock numbing his brain.

_Did I read her wrong_, he thought. _Does she even feel that way?_

She must have liked him back.

_Then why is she with that loser_, he asked. _What does she even see in him?_

Derek sighed. He knew that Casey never had the best taste in guys. But the day her fell for her was the day he swore he'd be better, different. He would never leave her; never hurt her. Never betray her; would always be there for her.

No matter what.

* * *

Daniel slowly turned his head and looked over at the clock. It was 1:21 and he hadn't gotten a moment of sleep yet.

Casey was still curled into him. He lifted his hand and pushed a falling hair back off of her face. She looked so cute when she was sleeping.

* * *

Honestly, Daniel was glad not to be at home. He hated his foster parents. They never really cared about him, let alone understood him. They only cared about the checks that they got monthly.

Some nights, just to get away from them, he would wander around London, alone, just thinking. He had spent nights on park benches or in the back of his car in an empty parking lot, which is why he kept blankets in the trunk now.

The only reason why he hadn't left yet was that he wanted to stay with Casey. They first really met in March, two weeks before he was going to turn 18 and get the hell out of here.

That's when he fell for her.

* * *

All seemed silent in the MacDonald-Venturi house.

Marti was curled up with Mr. Monk-Monk, Lizzie drooling on her pillow and Edwin sprawled out on his bed. George and Nora slept, backs facing each other. Casey slept soundly, curled into Daniel as he wrapped himself around her.

The only resident of their home that was awake was Derek. Silent, but awake.

It was well past one o'clock in the morning and he hadn't even bothered closing his eyes once. The loud indie-rock emanating from his headphones filled his ears.

His mind slowly drifted away from the unusual lyrics back to Casey.

There was nothing he could do. Her words pushed him away, but her looks and glances said otherwise.

He let out a small sigh.

_Girls are confusing._

* * *

** Greetings!**

**This one's a long one, eh? It was a tad hard to write, actually .**

**I haven't even started Chapter 18 yet. This is mainly because I don't know what should happen. Like I know what I want to happen, but I don't want to write it yet. It's like I totally skipped over that part and moved on. I do know what I want to happen in the end, but have no idea how I want to incorperate it into the story.**

**I decided to write a bit about Daniel in this chapter, mainly because I thought C.18 might be used better for something else.**

**I have an idea on what to do, but it might not be good, so I appoligize in advance for my (possibly) bad idea.**

**BTW, there's this really good author, C. K. Martin or something. Not the point. But anyways, I've seen her website and she has a playlist for each book. I thought that that's a cool idea. Would you guys be open to that? I'd post a few songs each chapter from now on, or maybe post it all at the end of the story. Let me know if you like that idea. (You probably won't like that idea, because my friends all HATE most of the music I listen too)**

**Later.**


	18. And I Watch The Hours Go By

*DISCLAMER: I don't own LWD. But I do own Daniel.*

**CHAPTER 18: And I Watch The Hours Go By**

"_It's not me, it's you! All the lies and pain you put me through,_"

Derek shot up, music still blasting through his ears. He quickly grabbed his headphones and pulled them of his ears.

He turned his head and looked over at his clock. The red numbers read out 8:52am.

Derek's stomach growled. He was hungry. Sighing, he turned off his iPod and rolled off his bed and exited the room, craving his Corn Puffs.

* * *

Casey's eyes fluttered open as she yawned and sat up. Daniel wasn't beside her. She quickly looked around the room.

"'Morning," Daniel smiled, sitting over in the corner where her laptop was. He had moved it back over there and was using it.

"'Morning," she responded, stretching out her arms. Casey turned her head over to the clock. It was 9:24 in the morning now.

"I hope you don't mind me using your laptop. I need to check my e-Mail."

"No, not at all," she yawned again, dropping her shoulders and tilting her head to the side. "Wait; how did you know my password?"

"You're predictable," he pushed his bangs out of the way with his hand. "It's one of the things I like about you."

Casey rolled out of bed, flipping the edge of her blankets to the side. She sleepily scratched her head and walked over to him, plopping down in front of him, crossed-legged. Daniel closed the top.

"Hi," he smiled.

"Hi,"

"You look so cute when you sleep, by the way."

"So I've been told."

He leaned in and she met his lips. They kissed.

"What time did you finally fall asleep?" she asked, after pulling away.

"'Round two in the morning,"

"Wow." She remarked.

Casey got up and walked over to the door. "I'll be right back,"

"Okay,"

She quickly and quietly closed the door.

* * *

Derek poured himself another bowl of Corn Puffs while Nora put in her other earing. George was getting Edwin, Marti and Lizzie out the door.

"Derek, you _sure_ you don't want to come and watch Lizzie's game?"

"Yeah."

"Well, would you mind telling Casey that we've left when she gets up, alright?"

"Got it."

"Alright then." Nora slipped on her shoes, ducking out the door. "We're off. We'll be back by 11:30."

"Bye!" Derek shoved another spoonful in his mouth.

* * *

Daniel's eyes wandered to the hole in her wall. It was strange to him. Why was it there? What happened?

His mind played all sorts of possibilities, ranging from her moving her furniture to actually punching the wall, but dismissed that one instantly. That wasn't like her

* * *

Derek heard the toilet upstairs flush, signalling that she was awake. He stared down on his almost full bowl.

His stomach still growled.

_Oh well_, he thought, shrugging his shoulders. _I'll finish this first._

* * *

Casey re-entered her room and headed straight to her dresser drawers.

"I need to get dressed," she announced. "Would you mind just like, leaving for a few minutes?"

"Alright. Where though? The roof would draw to much attention, and what if someone sees me if I went to the bathroom?"

"Well here," Casey opened the closet door. "Go in here."

"Fine," he sighed, walking into the closet.

She closed the door behind him; pressing on it to make sure it was closed, and then walked over to her dresser.

She opened the middle drawer, pulling out a bra and a tank top then opened the bottom drawer and pulled out a pair of jeans.

"Can I come out now?" he asked, behind the door.

"No, I'm not done yet." She replied, pulling off her pyjamas.

"Uhgh," he sighed.

She smiled, quickly clasping her bra behind her back.

"How 'bout now?" he asked as she pulled the tank top over her head.

"Almost,"

She slid on her jeans and threw her hair up into a loose bun.

"Are you done _now_?"

"Yes." He opened the door and stepped out. Of course, he had changed while she was sleeping.

* * *

Derek had downed his third bowl of Corn Puffs just as fast as he had the first two. Least he wasn't hungry now.

Now he had to go tell Casey where Nora and George and everybody else were. Oh joy. He didn't really _want_ to talk to her, for fear that something would go wrong, but if he didn't, Nora, George _and_ her would all be upset. And that'd be absolutely no fun.

Besides, he already had to do her chores _and_ fix the wall _and_ pay for it.

* * *

He gently laid her down, pushing her back onto her bed, never breaking their kiss.

She pulled her arms up and around his neck, to pull him closer to her. The same way that she did with…

No, she wasn't even going to think about it, or him.

Just her and Daniel, together. He ran his hand down her side to her leg, which was bent at the knee as she ran her fingers through his hair.

* * *

Derek put his bowl in the sink and left the kitchen.

It was time to go tell Casey.

There were only three things that came to mind right now: The fact that he loved her, the fact that he hated Daniel (mainly because he had something that he desperately wanted) and (oddly) the phrase "Suck it up, buttercup.

He really didn't want to do this.

But that was a moot point. A _really_ moot point.

He headed up the stairs.

* * *

Casey pulled away for a moment.

"You'll really need go soon," she reminded.

"So?"

Daniel went back to her lips.

* * *

He stood outside her door, trying to muzzle up the courage to knock on it.

Derek sighed and brought his hand up and knocked softly.

"Casey!" he said as he turned the nob, and began to open the door. "Nora wanted me to tell you tha-"

He stopped dead in his tracks to see Casey and Daniel. Kissing. On her bed. Him on top of her. Her arms around his neck. Her fingers in his hair. His hand on her thigh.

He noticed Daniel's stuff in the corner of her room, signifying that he had spent the night here. Derek clenched his fists.

Casey pulled away from Daniel and looked over at Derek. She pushed him off of her and sat up.

"Derek, please, not now." She begged, standing up and walking over towards him. Daniel followed her over. "Yeah, _Derek_," he smirked, draping his arm around her, almost as if to protect her and brag that he had her and Derek didn't, at the same time. . "We were sorta in the middle of something,"

Derek fists clenched tighter. "Get. Your arm. Off. Of. Her."

"Make me," Daniel retorted. He turned over to her and kissed her (which was unwanted on Casey's part right now).

"Daniel, no. Not now." She whispered, just loud enough that both Daniel and Derek could hear her plea. She didn't want this, not now.

Derek snapped. "Son of a BITCH!" he yelled.

Derek lunged at him, grabbing him by the shirt and throwing him against a wall.

"I thought I told you to stay the FUCK away from her!" he yelled.

"I thought I told _you_ that she's mine," Daniel retorted, lifting up his arms and pushing Derek off of him. "She chose me!"

"Stop it!" Casey cried, trying to separate the two by grabbing Derek's shoulder and pulling him away. Derek just shrugged her off and went back after Daniel.

"Casey belongs with me," Derek pushed and held him back against the wall. "And I'm not going to stand by and let some good-for-nothing, shit-for-brains, asshole like you take her away from me!"

* * *

**I'm watcing Life With Derek as I type this. **

**I decided to post this a tad earlier than usual, only because I have this slight "need" to finish this story really soon. Or maybe I'll put it on the back-burner for a bit. No idea right now.**

**Oh, as for the new one I was supposed to write, I've opted _not_ to post it until I'm done this one. I don't know if I want it to be a sequel to this or not, so I figure keeping it till I'm done this will allow maximum decisions and maximum attention.**

**And as for the next chapter, I'll probably end up posting it this week or later. **

**:) Enjoy the fight.**


	19. Brace Yourself, There's No Way Out

*DISCLAMER: I don't own LWD. But I do own Daniel.*

**CHAPTER 19: Brace Yourself, There's No Way Out**

"You know, I didn't take you for the type of guy to fall for your step-sister." Daniel smirked. "But that doesn't matter, because last time _I_ checked, she was with _me_. She wanted _me_. She was kissing _me_."

Derek drew his fist back.

"No, please Derek. Don't," Casey pleaded. She was frozen in fear.

"You should listen to her, _Derek_," Daniel smirked, warning in his voice. "I don't wanna have to kick your ass and _humiliate_ you in front _my_ girlfriend."

Derek swung his fist forward, hitting Daniel square in the face. Daniel, of course, got even angrier and pushed Derek off of him and threw him up against the other wall. He punched Derek, giving him an uppercut in the stomach. Derek was winded.

"Uhg!" Derek grunted, gasping for some air. Daniel leaned in closer to him, keeping his fist in Derek's chest, pushing in it harder every time he felt Derek regain his breath.

"I wonder what she'll think of you now for starting all this," Daniel muttered in his ear.

Derek quickly got his breath back (gotta love hockey) and pushed Daniel off (again) and slammed him back into the wall, hard, and threw him to the ground. Derek got on top of him and started to punch him in the face, and the chest.

"Derek, please! Don't do this!" Casey begged, tears in her eyes.

He just ignored her and went back to beating on Daniel.

He continued to punch him until Daniel grabbed his fists and rolled over on to him to get the upper-hand. Daniel pinned Derek's hands down to the carpet.

"She's better off with me!" Derek grunted, trying to struggle free.

"Like hell she is!" Daniel yelled. "Why don't you just give her up? She wants to be with me!"

"I'll give her up when Hell freezes over!" Derek spat on Daniel, managing to free a hand and punch him in the face and roll over onto him, getting the upper hand again.

Derek and Daniel continued to attack each other. Daniel managed to get Derek off of him and stood up. Then Derek lunged at him again and punched him in the face. Daniel wiped his lip with his fist. It was bleeding.

"Dick!" Daniel lunged back at him, and punched blindly, aiming for his face. He landed a couple of blows.

"Stop it! Please!" Casey cried, this time, tears were running down her face. She couldn't stand this. But she was ignored again.

Derek wiped his lip, to check for blood, but there wasn't any. He then leaped over at Daniel, aiming for his throat. He changed his mind and grabbed him by his shirt, holding him against a wall.

Casey watched in horror as this happened right in front of her. "Derek! Please! Let him go!" Casey cried, rushing over to Daniel and Derek.

Derek still ignored her and rammed his fist into his stomach.

Daniel heaved over, in pain.

"No!" cried Casey, as Derek dropped the limp body and watched it slide to the floor. She rushed to his side.

Daniel wearily looked up at him. "You son of a bitch!" he yelled, clutching his chest.

Derek grabbed him again and threw him against the wall.

"Stop it!" she screamed. "Please, Derek! I am _begging_ you! Stop doing this!"

Derek looked over at her.

Suddenly, he was met with a massive blow in the face, which took him aback.

Daniel stood, hunched over, panting; his hair messily covering his face.

This really just pissed him off further. Derek mustered up all his anger and his rage and drew his fist back, ready to beat the living shit out of Daniel. Casey saw this and panicked.

"Derek, stop! Please!" she cried. "I love him!"

"You-you what?" he dropped his fist and his other hand and looked over at her. Daniel looked up as well.

"I love him, Derek."

Derek grabbed him by the shirt again and punched him twice as hard in the stomach as he did before. He watched Daniel heave over again for a second, and then began to storm out of the room.

"Derek!" she yelled after him. When he didn't turn, she decided to chase after him.

"No, Casey, don't," Daniel choked out, using the last bit of his available breath to plead with her not to go after him.

But she didn't listen, just ran after Derek.

* * *

She chased after him in the hall.

Casey placed a hand on his arm to turn him around.

"Derek, what the fuck is with y-?"

He turned around and began to speak, interrupting her question.

"How could you even _possibly _love someone like him, Casey? He's a selfish son-of-a-bitch who couldn't care less about hurting anyone, let alone you!"

"Don't you fucking dare insult him like that! I've told you a million times that he's a good guy!"

"Good guy, my ass."

"Oh, and I suppose that you're just a _trillion_ times better," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes and folding her arms across her chest. "Because beating up my boyfriend makes you a superhero."

"He deserved it,"

"No, he didn't."

"Yeah, right. And I'm best friends with the pope,"

* * *

Daniel slowly started to regain his breath. He inhaled and exhaled deeply and listened to their argument.

* * *

"You know what? Fuck you, Derek." She yelled back at him. "_You're _the selfish son-of-a-bitch who couldn't care less about hurting anyone. Because from where I'm standing, this is all your-!"

Derek lost it again.

He grabbed her by her wrists and threw her up against the nearest wall, pinning her there.

"What the hell! Let me go!"

"Look me in the eye and _tell me_ that you honestly love him!"

She looked up at him. Straight in the eye. He could see that her eyes were still slightly bloodshot from her pleading.

"I love him, Derek!" she yelled.

He couldn't read her eyes to tell if she was lying or not.

Derek moved swiftly and fast, pressing his lips on hers.

And he kissed her.

* * *

Daniel managed to regain his breath just before the silence began and started to walk out to her to see why they'd stopped talking.

* * *

Daniel saw Derek pull away from her, still pinning her wrists against the wall.

"Tell me, Casey; tell me you didn't feel something there; that there wasn't a spark. And I'll believe you."

Casey's eyes dropped towards the ground.

"I didn't feel anything. No spark, nothing," She said quietly, looking at him weakly. "It meant nothing to me."

Casey, out of the corner of her eye, saw Daniel. He was standing outside the doorway to her bedroom. She saw his fists clench tightly

Derek pulled her forward quickly and then slammed her back into the wall. Daniel rushed over to her side as she slid against the wall to the floor. He quickly crouched down beside her to make sure she was alright. She nodded, gripping her wrists as he helped her to her feet. Daniel placed his arm around her for a moment, looking at Derek. There were (metaphorical) flames of hatred and anger in his eyes. He stepped in front of her, glaring at Derek.

"If you even so much as come within a mile radius of her, I'll kill you. I'll hunt you down, and kill you."

And with a swift movement, Daniel punched him straight in the jaw. Derek's head went to the side following Daniel's punch. Derek stood there for a second, hand rubbing his jaw.

In a blink of an eye, Derek grabbed him by his shirt and threw him up against the wall.

"No, Derek. Just leave him alone!" Casey cried, still holding her wrists.

Derek leaned in, jabbing his fist into Daniel's stomach.

"You'll never deserve her; ever." Derek whispered into his ear.

Derek turned and stormed to his room, slamming the door shut so hard that the entire house almost shook, while Daniel slumped to the floor again.

* * *

She rushed over to Daniel, who was still collapsed on the ground. He clutched his chest, trying to breathe.

"You alright?" she asked, sympathetically. (A slightly dumb question, but whatever)

"Yeah," Daniel sat up a bit, looking at her. "The better question is, are you O.K? I saw what he was doing to you. I really wanted to kill him then and there for even remotely thinking of kissing you."

"I'm fine, Daniel," she smiled weakly. "C'mon, let's get you cleaned up,"

She grabbed his arm, helped him get to his feet and lead him towards the bathroom.

* * *

Daniel sat on the edge of the bathtub as Casey wrung out a piece of toilet paper in the sink. She turned to face him, and brought the damp wad to his lip and began to wipe off the blood.

"You know, you shouldn't've antagonized him like that though, Daniel," she scolded, wiping his bottom lip. "You could've gotten seriously hurt."

"Like it'd've made a difference." Daniel rolled his eyes. "He hates me, for more reasons than one."

"Still," Casey said, wiping blood off of his cheek.

She set it down for a second to analyze his face for more blood, but Daniel crashed into her, wrapping his arms around her. Casey froze.

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you back there." Daniel whispered. Casey's eyes widened. "I'm so sorry,"

She wrapped her arms around him.

"It's alright."

* * *

"Well, I guess I'd better be going," Daniel said, slinging his full backpack onto his shoulder. He slid on his shoes, crouching in front of the front door.

He stood up and reached for her chin, bringing her closer and kissing her.

"I love you." Daniel said, pulling away, then giving her a hug.

"I love you too," Casey said.

Daniel reached for the door and placed his hand on the knob. He opened it, about to step out when he quickly turned around.

"If he comes after you again, call me." He added.

She nodded and waved him goodbye as he finally stepped out and closed the door, locking it behind him. Casey turned and walked back up the stairs to her room, holding onto the railing for support. She felt like she would collapse any moment now under the weight of everything that had happened just then.

* * *

**Tadah! It's here! I actually got beck my files of Monday, but wanted to edit it again.**

**Whatdya think?**


	20. He Senses Something, Call It Desperation

*DISCLAMER: I don't own LWD. But I do own Daniel.*

**CHAPTER 20: He Senses Something, Call It Desperation**

Casey collapsed on her bed. She hadn't stopped shaking yet.

She closed her eyes for a moment, hoping for an ounce of relief.

"_Tell me, Casey; tell me you didn't feel something there; that there wasn't a spark. And I'll believe you."_

"_I didn't feel anything. No spark, nothing. It meant nothing to me."_

"_If you even so much as come within a mile radius of her, I'll kill you. I'll hunt you down, and kill you."_

Those moments just kept playing over and over and over in her head like a movie.

She shook her head in an attempt to rid herself of her thoughts. She needed something to do.

Then it hit her: study. She hadn't finished what she wanted to yesterday, so right now would be a good time. Nothing like a few algebraic equations to get rid of unwanted thoughts.

She hopped off of the bed and folded the covers over the pillow in a quick, make-shift way to make her bed. She picked up the stack of notebooks and textbooks and binders and pencils and brought them over to the bed, setting them down on its surface. She looked at the pile and realized she forgot something: her calculator.

Casey ran over to her desk and picked the monochromatic turquoise calculator sitting on her copy of _The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective Teens_. It was a light read.

Throwing it down on her bed, she hopped onto it and got comfy, grabbing her Algebra textbook from the top, her lucky pencil and the notebook that was underneath it. Sticking it behind her ear, she carefully flipped to page 236 and opened her notebook to the fourth page. She began to copy down some practice questions for her to do.

"Okay, x to the seventh plus n to the nth," she read aloud, "equals seventeen plus x to the fourth. And if n equals three, what is x?"

"Easy enough," she said to herself and began to work on the answer, writing down equations and calculations on the page, until she had finished answering it.

She then copied the next one, and answered that.

Then the next one.

And then the next one after that.

She turned to the next chapter, and turned to a new page in her notebook.

* * *

Another chapter; done. She had gotten through three more (not including the one she was halfway done when she started) and it had been a bit more than half an hour. She was impressed. Only two more to go and then she would be done studying for her math exam.

She had to do well on these exams. Her scholarship to Queen's depended on it. Well, not really; she already had it in the bag, but she wanted to do well on them anyways. Besides, she was already Valedictorian, which meant that she had the highest marks out of all of the graduating class. It'd be great having finished the year off with a bang by getting all ninety's on her exams and courses.

Suddenly, she heard the door open downstairs.

"We're back," she heard George's voice call.

She leaped off her bed and rushed downstairs.

* * *

"Hey Casey," Nora said. "You're finally up."

"Yeah, I got up a couple of hours ago. Where were you guys?" she asked.

"We were at Liz's soccer game, Case. Didn't Derek tell you? We asked him too."

Come to think of it, she supposed that he _tried_ to tell her. He hadn't managed to get it out entirely, thanks to what had happened earlier between him and Daniel.

Another shudder.

"He probably did, but I might not remember. I'd just gotten up when he might've told me. But I've been studying ever since." She shrugged. "How was your game then, Liz?"

"It was _great_!" she exclaimed.

"Lizzie was _awesome_," Marti said. "She scored _all _the goals in the game,"

"Not really, just two of the three." Lizzie beamed, basking in the glory and praise.

"That's amazing, Lizzie. I'm so proud of you!" Casey gushed.

"Yeah, we're all proud of _ittle Izzy_," Edwin said in a mocking voice, jokingly putting his arm around Lizzie.

"We just stopped back in so Lizzie could get changed, and then we're gonna go out for lunch. Do you wanna come?" George asked.

"Sure, I'd love too. Let me just grab a sweater," Casey said, running upstairs.

"Oh, could you ask Derek if he wants to come too?" Nora yelled after her.

"Erm," she hesitated. "Sure..."

* * *

Standing outside the door, she took a deep breath, preparing herself for the worst.

"Derek?" she knocked, asking quietly through the door. "Mom and George want to know if you want come with us for lunch."

No response. Normally, Derek couldn't turn up free food. Ever.

_He must be really upset._

She knocked again. "Derek? Do you wanna come?"

Still nothing.

"Whatever," she said and left.

* * *

Derek sat on his bed, head and hair dangling over his lap, his hands and arms drooping lifelessly over his legs. And there he sat, hunched over.

"Derek?" he heard the knock. A small, cautious voice came through the wall asking quietly through the door. "Mom and George want to know if you want come with us for lunch."

He just sat there, unwilling to move. Or think.

She knocked again. "Derek? Do you wanna come?"

Still he sat there.

"Whatever," he heard her mutter, then descending footsteps.

* * *

"So? Does he want to come?" Nora asked.

"He didn't even open the door. I think he's sleeping," she lied.

"Hmm…" George speculated. "Must be. Normally Derek wouldn't pass up free food."

"It's alright, we'll bring him leftovers." Nora suggested.

* * *

"_I didn't feel anything. No spark, nothing. It meant nothing to me."_

Derek stood, leaning on his forearm on his door.

"_Only when I stop to think about it…"_

The speakers were blasting music to drown out the sound of nothing.

"_I hate everything about you! Why do I love you?_"

"ERGAH!" he yelled angrily, pushing himself off of the door and punching it.

"_I hate everything about you! Why do I love you?_"

He fell back against it, banging his head into it.

"_I didn't feel anything…"_

Bullshit. _THUD!_

"_No spark, nothing..."_

Bullshit. _THUD!_

"_It meant nothing to me…"_

Bullshit. _THUD!_

Derek pushed himself of the door and stood straight up.

_I can't take it anymore…_

* * *

**Hola. **

**So, yeah. This Chapter. Pretty self exlpanitory.**


	21. Touch My Own Skin

*DISCLAMER: I don't own LWD. But I do own Daniel. Oh, and that waitress, Amanda.*

**CHAPTER 21: Touch My Own Skin and Hope That I'm Still Breathing**

"So, Lizzie, where do you want to go for lunch?" George asked, pulling out on to the street.

"Hmmm…" she thought. "I don't know."

"Well, what are you in the mood for?" asked Nora.

"Pancakes, maybe?" she suggested, hoping not to receive anyone's disapproval.

"TOTALLY!" yelled Marti, grinning from ear to ear.

"Pancakes it is," Lizzie said.

* * *

"How many?" asked the greeter, cheerfully. She had black, long, wavy hair and light blue eyes, slightly tanned skin and a glimmering smile. She appeared to be a bit older than Casey; 22 perhaps? Or maybe it was the lack of over-the-top makeup that was normally present at Thompson High that made her look older?

"Six," responded George, confidently.

"Awesome, right this way," she grabbed 5 large menus and a small kids one with a packet of crayons. The group followed her to a large booth. Nora, Marti and George sat on one side and Casey, Lizzie and Edwin sat on the other.

Edwin's eye's followed the pretty greeter back to her podium. Lizzie noticed this and flung her hand out at him, hitting him (moderately hard for a backhanded slap) on the shoulder.

"Ow!" Edwin yelled. "What was that for?"

''You were staring at her, Edwin. I could tell."

"So?" he shrugged.

"So? It's _rude_. And _creepy_. Plus, you wouldn't have a chance even if you were the last guy on earth."

"Doesn't mean I can't look," he shrugged as another cheery waitress came over to the table.

"Hi, I'm Amanda. I'll be your server today. What can I get you to drinks?" she smiled, pulling out a small pad of paper and the pen that was tucked behind her ear. Her red hair was pulled into a sleek ponytail.

"I'll have a coffee," said Nora, her menu open and in front of her.

"Make that two," said George, smiling.

"Chocolate Milk, please!" yelled Marti, grinning.

"Orange juice for me, please," Casey said.

"I'll have Iced Tea," Lizzie said, studying the menu for a dish.

"And I'll have a Coke," Edwin said.

She finished scribbling down their orders on the pad. "Alright, so I've got two coffees, chocolate milk, an orange juice, an Iced Tea and a Coke. Perfect, I'll be right back with your drinks." Amanda scurried off to the kitchen.

* * *

Casey looked up just as Amanda approached the table. She carried a tray filled with the assortment of their drinks. She set the tray down on the table and gave them out.

"Here you go," she said, placing Casey's orange juice in front of her. Casey nodded her head in 'thanks' and looked at the menu.

"What would you like to eat?" she asked, taking out the pad and pen again.

"I'll have the Pancake Supreme," Edwin said.

"I'll have the Berry Bonanza," said Lizzie, folding her menu to close it.

"I'll have the Grand Breakfast," said George, looking at the waitress.

"I'll have the Banana Pancakes, with the hash browns and fruit salad," said Nora, following Lizzie's lead and closing the menu too.

"I'll just have fruit salad," said Casey.

"Okay," responded Amanda. "And for you?" she asked, directing her gaze to Marti.

"I want the Funky Monkey, please!" exclaimed Marti.

"Perfect," she stated, and left towards the kitchen.

* * *

"Are you ok, Case?" Nora asked after the waitress left. "I mean, you didn't order much,"

"Yeah, I'm alright. I'm just not that hungry." Casey shrugged.

"Alright," responded Nora, trying to hide the skepticism laced in her voice [and badly, I might add].

Marti leaned over and tapped George on the arm.

"Daddy, will you play tic-tac-toe with me?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure," he agreed.

"Okay, you're 'x'. You go first!" Marti smiled

* * *

Casey began to dig into her fruit salad while the "men" quickly nommed on their pancakes and bacon.

"Edwin, George. It's not a race. Relax," Nora smiled.

Suddenly, as Casey put another fork-full of cantaloupe in her mouth, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She set her fork down in the bowl for a moment and pulled out her Blackberry and took a look at the message. It was from Daniel:

**I got smthg I want 2  
show u. Meet me in  
10 in the parking lot  
the park **

Casey stared at her lap as she texted Daniel back.

**Can't. Lunch with  
the Fam.**

She sat her phone beside her on the bench and went back to eating that cantaloupe. After she ate those pieces, her phone vibrated again.

**How bout after?  
I can pick u up.**

"Hey Mom," Casey began, lifting her head up from staring at her lap. "Can I go hang out with Daniel after lunch?"

Nora didn't need to think. "Casey, I don't like how much time you're spending with Daniel. It's worrisome." She cut into her second pancake. "I've hardly seen you in the last couple of weeks."

"Please, Mom," she begged.

"I don't know Casey. Let me think for a moment."

* * *

"Alright, Casey, you can go hang out with Daniel." Nora finally said.

"Really?"

"Yes. _But _he has to pick you up from here _and_ you need to be back at home by 2:00. Got it?"

"Yeah, just let me text him back."

* * *

"Alright, we all ready to go?" George asked, putting his debit card back into his wallet.

"Yeah," Edwin nodded, sliding out of the booth. Lizzie then Casey followed his lead.

Casey faced the door. She noticed it open, and Daniel step through. His hair covered his face and his hands were shoved in his pockets. He walked past the podium, looking up to look at where she was. He walked over to her and gave her a hug.

"Hey," she smiled.

"Hey," he smiled back and then wrapped his arm around her. "Hi, Mrs. McDonald,"

"Hello Daniel," Nora said.

"Erm, I suppose we should be going now…" he said nervously, looking at Casey. "I'll have her back by 2:00." He added, noticing Nora opening her mouth to remind him.

Lizzie leaned over to Edwin as everyone watched them walk out of the restaurant. "I don't like him. He gives me the creeps." She whispered.

"You and me both," he whispered back.

* * *

"Okay, open your eyes!" Daniel yelled. "Taa-daah!"

Casey's jaw dropped open. Right in front of her was Daniel's new car. It was a 1975 Plymouth Fury in Black (with an attractive red pinstripe); Daniel's dream car. "Ohmygawd, this-this is…" A smile took over her face.

"Yeah. That was what the e-Mail I was checking this morning was about. The owner accepted my offer."

"Daniel, I'm so happy for you," she said, throwing her arms around his neck. "You must've worked really hard to get this."

"Yeah, it's taken most of my pay and my Echo, but it's definitely worth it. C'mon, hop in. Let's go for a drive."

* * *

The farther north they went, the fewer houses they saw and the more trees there were. She'd been up this far with Emily when they visited her family's cottage last summer but other than knowing where Muskoka was, she had no clue where they were.

"Now, where exactly are you taking me?" she asked, jokingly.

"You'll see," Daniel smiled, pulling onto the exit ramp.

He made a couple quick left turns and one or two right ones, driving down a long stretch of road. Casey watched the trees. They were up in the country; she could tell that much. She watched as the trees grew closer, the houses grew farther apart and the greens richer. Daniel turned up a steep hill, driving carefully.

"Certainly doesn't handle like the Echo," he remarked, in a matter-of-factly voice under his breath.

A couple more minutes later, he pulled into a parking lot.

"Alright," he said, putting the car in park. "We're here."

Casey looked out the window. "Where _exactly_ _is_ here?"

"It's this conservation area that was abandoned a couple years back. Very few people come here, but the ones that do, like it. I came across it one night when I was just… driving, looking for a place to sleep."

Casey was still looking out the window. "It's really pretty."

"Yeah, it really is."

"Casey,"

"Yeah?" she said, turning her head.

She turned her head to look at him. He took his hand and brought her into him, kissing her. She gently pushed him away.

"W-what is it?" he asked, a little shocked that that happened.

"Daniel, I can't." For lack of better words.

"Can't what? Kiss me?" he laughed a little; hints of confusion hidden by the small laugh.

She nodded. "It just feels… wrong. Because of what happened between you and Derek today, I mean. But I'm just so confused right now, Daniel. My head feels like its spinning! (She looked up at him.) I still wanna be here with you, but at the same time, I feel so guilty." Casey sighed and her voice grew smaller. "I just don't know what to do or what to think right now,"

He slid over, looking her in the eyes. "I'm sorry Casey, I'm so sorry. I never meant to put you in that position; at all. I never wanted you to feel so confused; I just wanted to protect you."

She 'leapt' foreword, so to speak, and hugged him, arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled her in.

"I love you, Casey" he whispered.

"I love you too," she whispered back. Her voice trembled, wavering like she was crying.

She pulled away and he looked at her. She definitely was crying. Silent tears were streaming down her face. Daniel reached out to wipe away a tear, then pulled her in and kissed her.

* * *

_Knock Knock_.

"Derek?" George asked, holding a white Styrofoam tray. "We brought some pancakes back for you."

No answer.

"Derek?" he asked again. "You awake?"

No answer.

"Derek?"

George opened the door.

George's eyes widened. His jaw fell (so did the pancakes [NOOOO!][But that's not the point, let's keep it serious] [Sirius BLACK!] [Ohhoho, Harry Potter humor] [I'm stopping now, really] [Whoops, I lied. I'll stop now and get back to the story][I lied again. I'm such a terrible person for making fun of a serious situation] [Sirius BLACK!][Okay, I swear this is the last unrelated author comment.]).

"Nora!" he yelled.

* * *

Daniel smashed his hands on the window, spreading his fingers against the glass as he held himself over Casey while he kissed her [I know, kissing is icky, but that's sorta what most the story is based on…] [Crap, I lied again][This one's it. I swear]. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he took one arm off the window and wrapped it around her waist.

Casey pulled away for a moment. He looked at her and she looked back at him. Daniel knew what this look meant.

"You sure?" he asked, concern on his face. She nodded in response. [I suppose that's not what you do when you're confused, but hey.] [Damnit. Lied again. Sorry. Last one. In this chapter. :)]

He leaned in again (half leaning against her, half supporting himself) as he pulled of his leather jacket and dropped it to the car floor. He placed his hands behind her, and she undid her zipper on her sweater. She let it slide off her shoulders to her wrists, pulling one hand out of the sleeve and wrapping it around his neck.

He moved one arm and wrapped it around her waist, pushing her back, supporting them with his other arm. He slid one hand up her shirt. She flinched at first, but it didn't matter because in a few seconds, she was starting to pull his shirt off of him and he was reaching for hers and she was playfully grabbing his hair.

_BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP! BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP!_

"Just ignore it," he mumbled.

_BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP! BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP!_

Daniel pulled away for a moment and she (and him) pulled his shirt over his head, throwing it to the floor of the car and then moved back to kissing her.

He pressed his body against hers, holding her tightly against him. She continued to run her fingers through his hair as he started to lift up her shirt to pull it off of her.

_BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP! BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP!_

"Shit," she mumbled, reaching for her pocket and pulled away for a moment.

_BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP! BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP!_

She pulled it out of her pocket as Daniel pulled away from her so she could look at her phone. **Home** was what the screen said in big, bold white letters. "It's Mom," she said, worried, sitting up.

"Ignore it," he said, leaning back in.

"What if it's urgent?" she pushed him back.

At this point, Daniel sat there, watching her. Casey held the phone to her ear.

"Hey,"

"Ohmygod, Casey, I-I was s-so wor-rried. Y-you didn't p-pick up," Nora sobbed on the other end.

"I'm sorry, I was in the middle of something. Why? What's up?

"You h-haven't heard a-anything from Derek, per ch-chance, h-have y-you?"

"No, I haven't heard anything from him. Why? What's going on?"

She heard Nora sob again and then mutter something inaudible.

"What happened?" she asked.

Suddenly, Casey dropped her phone and Daniel stared at her. Her face was blank and she stared off into space, as if she was in shock.

"Casey? What is it?"

"Daniel, I have to go home. We've got to go now."

"What? Why?"

She looked at him, tears filling her eyes. "Derek's missing,"

* * *

**SUMMER!**

**Exams; Done. School; Finito.**

**YAY!**

**BTW, are we all excited for next, next week? I know I AM! First, Breathe Carolina's new album, _Hell Is What You Make It_ comes out on the 12th and then, la piece de resistance, HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 2 comes out on the 15th. **


	22. Ain't No Turning Back,

*DISCLAMER: I don't own LWD. But I do own Daniel.*

**CHAPTER 22: Ain't No Turning Back, My Heart's Gone Neon Black**

The drive back to Casey's house was silent. Daniel was concentrating on driving while Casey stayed silent as she blankly stared out the window, cradling her phone in her hands. He occasionally looked over at her, but she barely moved. She was numb and emotionless.

* * *

"We're here," Daniel announced quietly, opening the driver-side door and got out. Casey looked up, her face still in a state of empty shock. She got out on her side.

Daniel met her over there. She slid out of the car, and stood up and grabbed her sweater. She held it in her hands. Daniel walked beside her, up the stairs and to the door.

She opened the door. Lizzie and Edwin were sitting on the couch while Nora franticly paced the room. She saw Casey and rushed over to her.

"Casey," Nora said, hugging her.

"We rushed over after you called." She said quietly as Nora pulled away. Nora brushed her forehead. She saw the anxiety and the stress on her mom's face. "You really should sit down, Mom. Stress isn't good for the baby,"

"I just can't stay still right now,"

George exited the kitchen with the phone in his hands. "Sam and Mrs. Roberts haven't heard from him or seen him since last night," he sighed. "I don't know where he is."

Nora rushed over to George.

Daniel pulled her aside. "Do you want me to stay with you?" he asked.

She nodded as he put his arm around her and walked deeper into the house.

"But you can't keep pacing around the room. You're stressing yourself too much. Just sit down for a moment. Please." They heard George plead.

"Fine, but just for a few minutes," she said stubbornly. Nora walked over to Derek's chair and sat down there.

George emerged from the kitchen with a glass of water for Nora and sat on the arm rest. "Thank you," Nora replied. Daniel and Casey sat down on the sofa. Nora set the glass down on the coffee table and then lifted a hand to her temple.

"I don't know where he is," Nora remarked.

"It's okay, Nora, we'll find him,"

"Have you called the police yet?" Daniel asked.

"We tried, but they can't do anything until he's been missing for 24 hours. I hate the damned waiting." George said, rubbing his wife's back as she cried silently.

"I don't even know why he left," she remarked. "He could be anywhere. He could be laying in a ditch for all we know!"

"Nora, don't even think like that for a second. Maybe he's just out for a drive," George suggested.

"Without giving us a call or leaving us a note?"

"Maybe he-"

Casey suddenly got up from Daniel's arm and ran up the stairs, about to cry.

"Casey, what are you doing?" Daniel asked, standing up after her.

"I'm so sorry," she managed to gasp.

She ran past Daniel and the rest of her family upstairs, turning past the staircase and running past Derek's room straight to hers. She closed the door behind her, placing her palms against the door. She headed towards the farthest corner of her room, leaned against it and slid to the floor and sat there as she cried, cradling her head in her hands.

* * *

Daniel stood there, eyes following her as she ran upstairs.

"Daniel, don't worry about her. She just needs space right now. Just leave her alone for a bit." George said.

"Mr. Venturi, Casey's been an emotional wreck since last night. I _can't _leave her alone right now. I'm sorry," Daniel said politely (even though his fists were clenched). He ran up the stairs after her.

* * *

Daniel opened the door. "Casey?" he asked. He stopped for a moment when he saw her. She was in the corner, just crying. "Oh God," he whispered as he rushed over to her.

He fell beside her. "Casey," he murmured as he reached out for her. She fell into him, leaning against him for support as she cried. She wrapped her arms around him and he wrapped his arms around her. She continued to cry for a while, and they just sat there.

* * *

Daniel looked at the digital alarm clock that was directly across on her nightstand. The medium-sized numbers signified that he'd held her for almost an hour. She'd started to calm down a bit about twenty minutes ago and now she'd fallen asleep.

"Casey?" Nora knocked on the door frame. Daniel looked up at her. "How is she?" she asked.

"She's asleep," Daniel whispered.

Nora glanced at the clock on Casey's night stand, then looked at them. "Daniel, shouldn't you be heading home? You're parents are probably worried about you," Nora wrapped her cardigan around her to keep warm.

"Mrs. McDonald, would you mind if I stayed over just for tonight? F-for Casey." Daniel asked. "She really needs me right now and I just can't leave her like this,"

Nora paused in the doorway for a moment to think about it. "Alright, but just for tonight." She turned and left her doorway.

"Mmmm…" Casey groaned. She pushed herself off of him as her eyes fluttered opened. They were bloodshot and red. Suddenly, she heaved over and grasped her head.

"You alright?" Daniel asked instinctively.

"It's my head; it's pounding."

"You want to lie down or something?"

"I think I'm just gonna grab some aspirin and get a shower." Casey stood up.

"I'll be right here if you need me,"

* * *

The hot water hit the bottom of the tub and steam filled the bathroom.

Casey looked at herself in the mirror as she tossed two tiny, white pills into her mouth and took a swig of water from a small, plastic cup. She swallowed them and dumped the rest of the water in the sink.

She took a step back, away from the mirror and faced the wall. She disrobed silently and fast, then paused for a moment. The window and mirror were coated in the steam emanating from the shower.

Casey gently pulled open the shower curtain and stepped into the tub. She placed one hand on each edge of the tub as she lowered her body to the bottom, pulling the shower curtain across.

The hot water hit her cold skin and she breathlessly gasped. It felt… good. The heat numbed her entire body.

Casey brought her knees into her chest and rested her head on them and just let the water hit her as she started to cry again.

_Where are you, Derek?_

* * *

_It's breaking every little piece of me  
And I don't ever want you to leave_

Casey turned her head to the left, tears and hot water streaming down her face.

_Knock, knock._

"Casey, you okay in there?" someone asked through the door. She couldn't tell who it was.

"Yeah, I'm alright." She mustered, in her best 'I'm-okay' voice and wiped her eyes.

"Alright,"

_I'm trying to make it right  
This thing that they call love  
I need you in my life  
I'm trying to make it about us_

"_I didn't feel anything. No spark, nothing. It meant nothing to me."_

Derek chucked the locket out the window as he turned into the parking lot.

"_If you even so much as come within a mile radius of her, I'll kill you. I'll hunt you down, and kill you."_

"Well, you won't have to worry about that," Derek mumbled, putting the car in park. "Because I'm gonna stay as far away from her as possible,"

_I keep hearing it about us  
I don't care what they say about us  
I hate hearing it about us  
I'm tired_

Casey stepped out of the shower as she wrapped a towel around her body. She walked over to the mirror and wiped off the fog.

Her hair hung from her head in small, damp strands; her hands were wrinkled and her eyes were red and puffy.

_It feels like I'm in a lose-lose  
With this split in direction  
Why couldn't it just be a one way  
So I can give you affection_

Stay.

Go.

Stay. They need me.

Go. She doesn't.

Stay. They'll miss you.

Go. She won't.

Stay. You can move on.

Go. No, I can't.

Stay. She doesn't matter.

Go. I wish it was that simple.

Stay.

Go.

Stay.

Go.

Go.

_Never thought I'd see the day  
It's not fair for me to choose  
It's not easy to explain  
You'd have to walk in my shoes_

Casey clutched the towel against her chest, griping her clothes in the other hand. She stood in the doorway of Derek's room. His door was opened and his room looked like it'd been ransacked. Well, not that it looked better than before. But it looked worse.

She moved on to her room. Daniel wasn't there. She sighed and closed the door.

* * *

He walked through the sliding entry doors and headed straight for the counter.

He reached the counter and the man behind it looked up.

"What can I do for you today, sir?" the man behind the counter asked.

"A one-way ticket to Vancouver." He said bluntly.

"We have two busses departing today; one at in fifteen minutes and the other at 3:55. Which one would you prefer?"

"The first one."

"Alright, I need some ID."

He reluctantly reached into his wallet and pulled out a driver's license. The man behind the counter took it, looked at it quickly, then passed it back to him.

"That'll be $30.76, Mr. Venturi,"

* * *

She lied on her bed, sprawled out.

"_Tell me, Casey; tell me you didn't feel something there; that there wasn't a spark. And I'll believe you."_

"_I didn't feel anything. No spark, nothing. It meant nothing to me."_

"I don't know,"

She rolled onto her side, bringing her knees closer to her chest.

"I just don't know anymore,"

_Knock, knock._

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Daniel wanted me to tell you that he's just gone out for a quick walk and he'll be back in a few minutes but if you need him, he said to call and he'll be back immediately," said Lizzie, from behind the door.

"Okay."

* * *

Waiting is the hardest part of anything and everything.

Like how Derek waited on Platform 6 for the 2:39pm bus.

Like how Nora and George waited for some sign that their (step)son was alright.

Like how Lizzie and Edwin waited for information.

Like how Marti waited for her Big Brother.

Like how Sam waited for a call; a text or an e-Mail from is best friend.

Like how Emily waited for word of her now ex-boyfriend who was in love with his stepsister.

Like how Daniel waited for her to get over that asshole.

Like how Casey waited for numbness.

For relief.

But eventually, the waiting turns into something else, good or bad.

Like when the bus pulled into the station and Derek got on it. He handed the dude the ticket and walked over to his seat, tossing his bag over into the next seat.

"_-Good afternoon, passengers. This is the 56 bus heading for Toronto. Our arrival time in Toronto is expected to be 4:58pm. For those of you who are connecting in Toronto on the 5:12 train for Vancouver B.C., upon our arrival, exit the bus and head to Platform 2. Have a nice ride and thank you for choosing Go Bus-"_

Like how the bus left the station.

* * *

Another _knock _at the door.

"Casey?" Daniel asked, coming in. "I'm back."

She sat up. "How's your headache?" he asked.

"It's better." She responded; he sat beside her.

"How about you? How are you?" he put his arm around her.

"Tired, sad, confused," She responded. "But what else is new,"

"I know this is hard on you, Casey,"

"Hard doesn't even describe this, Daniel." Casey said, quietly and sadly.

"I know,"

* * *

"Thank you very much for letting me stay over tonight, Mrs. McDonald." Daniel said, as she tucked the sheet into the side of the couch cushions. Casey stood at the bottom of the step. He walked over to her.

"Well, you're all set up," said Nora. "Good night, Daniel."

"Good night," he responded.

"G'night, Mom," said Casey.

Nora departed to the basement, walking across the rooms. You could feel her sadness emanating from her figure.

He turned to Casey. "I'll be down here if you need me," he kissed her on the forehead. "Good night,"

"Good night," she said.

* * *

**So yeah...**

**I know the story's _really_ long. Like 22 chapter! AND I'VE FINISHED ANOTHER ONE AND AM WORKING ON THE NEXT ONE!**

**But it's quite epic, really. It'll pick up. There'll be romance, action, sadness and much, MUCH, more.**

**Also, the one year ****anniversary ****of _Study Buddies _is coming up.**

**Later**


	23. I Wanna Live a Life from a

*DISCLAMER: I don't own LWD. But I do own Jed/Afro-dude.*

**CHAPTER 23:** **I Wanna Live a Life from a New Perspective**

"_Ladies and Gentlemen, we are arriving at Union Station at 5:00. For those of you heading to Vancouver, the 5:12 connecting bus is on Platform 2. Have a good day and thank you for choosing Go Bus-."_

The loudspeaker _clicked_ as the train halted, pulling into Union Station. Many people stood up as the doors began to open. Derek slung his backpack onto his shoulder and stood up with the several-hundred other people who were standing to exit the train.

He managed to push his way through the crowds of people to the tiled floor of the station. He took a couple steps to get out of people's way. To the left, there was a large, lit up sign that read "Platform 3" in big black letters that stood out against the yellow background.

Derek headed straight towards the doors to the inside of the station. As he stepped inside, his stomach growled.

"Great," he muttered, rolling his eyes.

He stopped, dead in his tracks. His head was tilted so that he looked straight up at the direction sign hanging above him. Platform 4 was directly across from him. Platform 5 was to the right of him. But there was no sign of Platform 2.

He scanned the room, looking for someone who might know where it was. In the sea of people, he finally noticed someone in a janitor's uniform. Following the direction of his gaze, he rushed over to the man.

"Excuse me, sir,"

The janitor looked up abruptly. "Yes?"

"Do you know where Platform 2 is?"

"Yeah. Follow this hall, then make a right." He gestured to the hall where the businesspeople were erupting from.

"Okay, thanks." Derek smiled, then ran off in that direction, dodging people in silk ties and black heels. He followed the man's directions and sure enough, was staring down towards Platform 2.

Then his stomach growled again.

He pulled out his phone from his pocket. The tiny display screen of his flip-phone read '47 New Messages' and underneath it read '21 New Voicemail'. He opened it. The phone automatically displayed his missed texts. He started to scroll through them. Sam, Sam, Sam, Sam, Emily, Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, Nora, Nora, Nora, Dad, Nora, Sam, Ralph, Dad, Emily, Dad, Dad, Sam, Dad, Nora, Nora, Ralph, Sam, Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, Nora, et cetera, et cetera. He closed the notices and looked at the time. It was 5:07; he still had a bit before the train left. He looked up and there was a little connivance store at the side up ahead. He walked over to it and entered. The small store was small; really small. It _had_ to be 10 ft x 10 ft, tops. There was an Asian lady sitting behind the counter.

Derek picked out a bag of chips, a Coke, a protein bar and a pack of gum and placed them on the counter. The lady promptly rang it up.

"That'll be $7.54," she said. Her voice had a slight accent to it.

Derek pulled out his wallet and handed her a $10 bill. She pushed a button on the cash register and the drawer opened. And as promptly as she had run it up, she had gathered his change.

"Would you like a bag?" she asked, handing it to him.

"Um, yeah, thanks"

She reached under the counter and pulled out a shiny, grey bag. She began to put the items into it. When she was done, she handed him the bag.

"Have a nice day," she smiled.

"You too."

As he left the store, he checked his phone again. It was 5:09.

"Shit!" he muttered, and sprinted towards the doors.

Derek raced down the hall, the plastic bag swinging in his hand, and pushed through the doors to the platform. The train was still there. He quickly hopped on.

"Ticket, please" asked the grumpy driver. He dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out the small, thick piece of paper and handed it to him. He checked it over and handed it back to him. He raced for a seat towards the middle of the bus. He made it back there and threw his bag on the seat next to him.

"_Ladies and Gentlemen, we will be leaving the station in a minute. This is the 96 Express bus to Vancouver, B.C. Our estimated time of arrival is Monday, June 9__th__ at 9:23pm. The doors will close momentarily. Enjoy your ride and thank you for choosing Go Bus-._"

The bus was sparsely covered. There was about 16 people on it. Most looked about Derek's age, and a couple looked stoned. There was several people working on laptops, and a handful of people sleeping. He reached over for his protein bar and quickly ate it.

He quietly slipped on headphones and turned on his iPod.

* * *

The bus came to an immediate halt, thrusting everyone forward. His bags slid off the seat and hit the floor. He yanked his headphones off.

"_Sorry, folks. There's a problem with the bus. Dispatch is sending someone for help, so sit tight for now-._"

* * *

Another 40 minutes had passed.

_That's it_, he thought. _I can't take it._ He stood up, grabbed his bags and walked up to the front (with his headphones around his neck).

"Let me off," he said to the driver.

"Sorry, sir, I can't do that. Union rules."

"Let me off,"

"Sir, I can't-!"

"Look, I get it. But I want off. And I want off right now."

"But I can't do that!"

"Either you let me off right now, or I'll let myself off. Your choice."

The bus driver nodded and reached for the door release and opened the doors. Derek walked off the bus quickly. He turned to the bus driver.

"Thanks," he said.

"Don't mention it," the driver said. "Seriously, don't. I wasn't supposed to do that."

"Got it,"

The driver closed the door to the bus and Derek turned to the left. He started to walk down the street. He walked all the way to the intersection of Portland Street and King Street. He glanced at his phone again. There was12 new messages. He sighed, flipping it open and automatically closed the message alert thing to look at the time. It was 6:03 and it was starting to get dark out. He needed to find a place to crash for tonight. And soon.

He walked down Portland Street. He looked at all the lights, the people and the stores. He looked at the people walking in groups, all dressed up for a night out. The lights were eye-catching and bright. The stores were all closing now; after all, it was Sunday.

As the sky grew darker, more and more people flooded the streets.

Derek turned down Adelaide Street and walked down it. He passed more people. He looked down at his feet as they hit the pavement.

Suddenly, he felt his body jerk against the impact of someone else's. He looked up to see a couple of girls, scantily clad. He had bumped into the blonde on the end of the pack.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

She and her also scantily-clad friends looked him over. She smiled and playfully bit her lip.

"Don't be," she giggled and her and her friends continued to walk away. "Did you see him? He was really cute," he heard them say to each other.

He turned and kept on walking down the road.

* * *

Derek stopped and looked across the street. There was a small little park.

"What the hell?" he said to himself and ran across the street. He looked both ways and ran across the street toward St. Andrews Playground.

* * *

"_And I would wait and watch the hours fall in a hundred separate lines,_"

It was almost pitch-black out now, considering that it was past 9:00. Derek had spent 2 hours sitting and swinging at that park. He'd eaten that bag of chips already and downed that Coke. He took off his headphones and put them around his neck again.

He reached in his pocket for his iPod and turned it off and exited the park. He followed the gravel path back to the sidewalk. Large trees lined the path. Derek stepped onto the sidewalk and looked for somewhere to go for now. Most of the buildings were dark, except one on the corner of Adelaide and Brant. It was a small little café called The Crimson Café.

Derek (now wanting to check out the place and grab some coffee) hopped across the street towards the warmly lit place.

* * *

A bell above the door ran as Derek walked into the café. The walls were a warm beige color and the floors were a light cream tile. The tables were a medium color wood and matched the service counter. The chairs and booths were covered with orange fabric. He walked over to the counter.

A man with curly black hair in an almost afro looked at Derek as he figured out what he wanted.

"What can I get you?" he asked, placing his hands on the counter.

Derek looked at the menu. "I don't know. What's good here?"

The Afro-dude laughed. "Well, I hate to brag, but I make a _mean_ Café Mocha,"

"I'll go for that then,"

"What size do you want?"

"Hrm… I think I'll go large."

"One large Café Mocha, coming right up. That'll be $3.54."

Derek fished out a $5 bill from his pocket and waited until Afro-dude came back to take it.

"Here's you change," he said, handing him back a handful of coins. Derek shoved them back into his pocket and sat down at one of the barstools. He took off his backpack and set it beside the stool.

Derek looked around. There was a couple sitting out on the patio, a preppy kid probably writing an essay on his laptop, a small group of girls giggling over gossip and a young girl reading a romance novel.

"Here you go," said Afro-dude, setting down a mug in front of Derek.

"Thanks," Derek smiled and took the mug into his hands and took a sip.

* * *

Derek finished his drink and was now just holding it, staring deep into the empty mug.

"Dude, you better head out. I've gotta close up shop for tonight," Afro-dude said, drying a mug. The café was virtually empty now, except for Derek and Afro-dude.

"Oh," Derek said. He pushed the mug forward and picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder. He started to push the door to the café open when Afro-dude started to yell at him.

"Hey," he yelled, adding a gesturing nod. Derek turned around, still holding the door open. "What's with the bag?"

"It's my stuff," Derek responded simply.

"Whatd'ya mean, 'it's your stuff'?"

"It's my clothes'n'stuff," Derek shrugged.

"Don't tell me, you're a runaway," Afro-dud look at him skeptically.

He didn't say anything. Afro-dude took it as a 'yes'.

"Do you at least have a place to stay tonight?"

Derek shook his head and turned to walk out the door.

"WAIT!" Afro-dude yelled. "Get back in here!"

Derek heard it and re-entered the shop.

"What?" Derek asked.

"Help me close up, and you can crash at my place," Afro-dude sighed.

"You mean it?" he questioned, eyes wide like a kid's at Christmas time.

"Yeah, sure, I'll show you what you need to do."

* * *

"So, wait, you live above here?" Derek asked as he and Afro-dude walked up the stairs at the back of the building.

"Yeah." Afro-dude said, turning the key in the lock and opening the door. He and Derek stepped in.

The first thing he noticed was that the apartment smelt of coffee. The walls were grey and there was grey carpet, except in the kitchen, where it was cream linoleum. The kitchen was small, with a little breakfast nook that left a big window to the living room, which was a bit bigger than that little convenience store at the bus station. It had a red love-seat couch and a black T.V. stand with a slightly old, large T.V. on it. There was a short hall way and three doors. The one at the end of the hall was the bathroom.

"You can just put your stuff in the living room,"

Derek did as was suggested, looking around in awe.

"I'm Jed, by the way,"

"Derek,"

"Well, Derek, let me give you the house tour," he laughed. "Over here's the kitchen, where your standing is the living room, down this hallway is the bathroom, the door on the left is my room and the door across from that is the linen closet."

Jed walked in the kitchen and reached into the fridge.

"You want a beer?" he asked.

"After my day, yeah."

Jed chucked him a beer. Derek caught it with ease. "Nice reflexes,"

They simultaneously opened them and both took a sip.

"So, what brings you to T.O.?" Jed asked.

"What?"

"Well, why are you here in Toronto?" Jed took another sip. "And if I'm not mistaken, it has something to do with those bruises on your hands,"

"I don't wanna talk about it. Maybe later?" Derek suggested.

"Yeah, sure."

* * *

"There you go," Jed said, fluffing the last pillow on the pullout couch. "Bathroom's at the end of the hall, I'm in my room if you need me and there's extra blankets in the closet. 'Kay?"

"Got it," Derek said.

"Great, I'll see you in the morning," Jed smiled and headed down the hall to his room. "G'night," he hollered.

"Night," he waved.

* * *

**Nice twist there? I think so.**

**See? It's getting more epic. **

**Hold on, I have two things to say: 1) the next couple'll be really long, espically the next chapter. I think it's 13 pages on WORD and 2) I have a photo of Daniel's car that I'll be posting on my profile for those car fans. It should be up before Sunday.**


	24. Cause You're Everywhere To Me

*DISCLAMER: I don't own LWD. But I do own Daniel and Jed.*

**CHAPTER 24: 'Cause You're Everywhere To Me**

_Casey stood there, darkness surrounding her entirely._

_Suddenly, Derek stood in front of her, smirking. He had one hand in his pocket. They faced each other. He took a step closer to her. She could practically smell his body spray._

"_You know this is all your fault, don't you?" He said, breaking their silence. "We wouldn't be in this position if it hadn't been for you."_

"_You don't understand, Derek."_

"_Oh, I understand it perfectly. See, 'cause while you were toying with me and my feelings, you were off about to _fuck_ that idiot in his car. You wanted your goddamn cake, and you sure as hell ate it too," he snickered, then paused. "Does it make you feel good to be a man-eater? Because it _honestly_ makes me feel like crap,"_

"_You don't _understand_, Derek," she started to clench her fists._

"_You keep saying that, but it doesn't _mean_ anything,"_

"_You don't understand, Derek! I never wanted this!" she exclaimed._

"_Never wanted what? To toy with me? To make me feel like an idiot? Because it feels like that's what you were aiming for. So congratulations, you win. I'm bent and broken, lying on the floor. You win."_

"_YOU DON'T GET IT!" Casey screamed. "You _never_ do! Do you even understand what it was like for me to have my _step-brother_ confess his 'love' to me? My. _Step_._ Brother_. I didn't want any of this, Derek! I didn't want you to get drunk and hurt me; I didn't want you to say that you love me; I didn't want you to give me that locket; I didn't want you to kiss me; I didn't want you to see me leave with him; I didn't want to hear you tell me that he's a bad person; I didn't want you to walk in on him and me; I didn't want you to start that fight or kiss me in front of him; I didn't want you to go missing and I really didn't want to hurt anyone! I didn't want this but you just ignored me and went on with whatever the hell _you_ wanted! This isn't _my _fault. _You_ did this to me!"_

"_Don't blame me, you did this to yourself," Derek pointed his finger at her. "It's all you, baby, it's all you."_

"_Oh, really now? So you confessing your love to me and me rejecting you and you going all 'beating on my boyfriend' and leaving _everyone who ever cared about you_ is all my fault!"_

"_You know why this is your fault. I shouldn't need to explain it to you."_

"_No, I don't know why this is my fault. So, enlighten me, Da Vinci."_

"_It's all _your_ fault because _you_ couldn't be honest and tell the goddamn truth," he yelled. "You _know_ that you lied when you said that you didn't love me! You know that you lied when you said you loved him. Face it, you want me and not him, and it's killing you because you know I'm right,"_

"_But I wasn't lying! I don't love you and I don't want you. And it's not killing me that you're right, because you're wrong! I want to be with Daniel! Why can't you accept that?"_

"_Blah, blah, blah," he rolled his eyes. "Would you quit lying?"_

"_I don't love you, Derek!"_

"_Lying again; tsk, tsk. It's a nasty habit, Princess."_

"_I _don't _love you, Derek!"_

"_Lying some more, are we?"_

"_I _don't_ love you, Derek! I _never_ have and I _never_ will!"_

_He took a step closer to her._

"_Liar, liar, pants on fire," he whispered._

"_Back off, dickwad," said another voice. Casey turned around. Daniel emerged from the pitch blackness. Derek looked at him. "She said she's not interested and she's not lying. She wants to be with me."_

"_Then _she_ can say it," he said, looking back at Casey. "You want to be with him; say it."_

"_I-I," She brought a hand to her throat and tried once more, but she choked on the words again._

"_If you want to be with him, then _say_ it." Derek said again._

"_I-I,"_

_Derek smirked. "I knew you couldn't do it,"_

_She looked back at Daniel. His eyes grew sadder. "Say it, Casey. You can _end_ his silly delusion. Just _say_ it."_

_She tried._

"_Just say it!" he urged. But Casey still couldn't say anything._

"_PLEASE! SAY IT! Tell him you don't want him. That you just want me!" Daniel yelled, sadness and desperation filling his face._

"_I-I," She raised a hand to her forehead. "I-I," she sighed. "I can't say it, Daniel. I'm sorry," she looked at him sadly._

"_Finally, some truth," Derek smiled. "It wasn't so hard, was it?"_

"_I wasn't lying to you about _that_, Derek. I don't love you, I never have, I never will."_

_He sighed. "And more lies,"_

"_I'm not lying, Derek. I mean it. I don't love you."_

"_See, you're lying to me, right now,"_

"_I'm not!"_

_He stepped around her and faced her back. He blew air into her ear. She shuddered but he stayed there._

"_You know you're lying," he whispered into her ear._

"_No, I'm not," she said out loud._

"_You're really adamant about this, aren't you?"_

_She nodded. "Yes,"_

"_Well then, until you can be honest with yourself," she heard a _click_ and immediately turned to face him. Derek stood there, holding a gun to his temple. He'd already loaded it and his hand was on the trigger._

"_Derek, no,"_

"_Until you can be honest with yourself, I'm sorry," Derek smiled and pulled the trigger. "Goodbye, Casey,"_

_There was a _BANG_ and then Derek fell, dead to the ground._

* * *

Casey shot up, panting. She gripped the blanket against her chest as she looked over at the clock. The numbers read out 2:37am in red light. The dark sky entered her room in streaks through the blinds. Everything remained still, as if she was the only thing affected by time. She gripped her forehead and tried to calm herself.

_Breathe. Breathe in, breathe out._

_Focus. Focus on something, something you know._

_No, not that._

_Anything but that._

It wasn't working. All she could think of right now was his face as he pulled the trigger. That smile, that apology. That damned look on his face.

"It's my fault," she gasped, feeling her face. "It's all my fault,"

_Where the hell is he?_

* * *

"Daniel," she whispered, shaking him slightly on the verge of crying. "Daniel, wake up. It's me."

"No, Evil Space Monkeys, you can't steal my wallet. Earth Money won't work where you come from, and I need that bus token." He mumbled, rolling over.

"Daniel, wake up!" she pleaded, sobbing. "Daniel!"

He bolted up right quickly, looking around. "Wha-?"

She leaned in, crashing against him and hugging him. "I want to be with you," she cried. "I wa-I w-want,"

"Casey, what's wrong?" he asked.

She continued to cry. "Casey, what is it?"

"I wasn't lying," was all she said.

"I know," was all he said back.

* * *

She woke up on the couch, wrapped in Daniel's arms (again). She must've fallen asleep there.

She wiped her face and sat up. His arm slid off of her, landing in her lap. She reached for his phone on the coffee table and pressed the center button. It was 6:54; time to get ready for school.

_Today is really going to be hell, _she thought, sliding away to her room.

* * *

_Derek looked around. He was shrouded in darkness. _

_He looked behind him, then straight ahead. Casey now stood there. He could almost touch her._

"_It's rather pathetic, don't you think? Running away," she shrugged and took a step closer to him._

"_I had to go, Casey. What else could I've done?"_

"_You could've stayed,"_

"_No, I couldn't've!"_

"_Oh really?"_

"_Do you understand how _hard_ it would be for me to stay there? How hard it would be for me to live in that house with you, _knowing_ that you didn't love me? Knowing that you wanted him? Knowing that you'd kiss him and that that'd never be me?"_

"_So your pain is more important than your dad's? Than Nora's? Than Sam's? Than Lizzie's and Edwin's and Marti's?" she said skeptically, crossing her arm across her chest._

"_I'm not saying that, Casey; don't twist my words around. I didn't want to hurt them,"_

"_That's ironic; you didn't want to hurt them, but by running away, you hurt them. But see, _unlike_ them, I don't give a shit that you left. I'm better off with Daniel. Besides, I'd never want to be with someone who'd run away from it all once the going gets tough. That's dumb and immature."_

"_Oh, and I suppose Daniel'd _never_ do that," Derek said sarcastically._

"_You're damn right I wouldn't," said Daniel, stepping beside Casey, putting his arm around her. "I care about her enough to stay, which is more than I can say for you; and you supposedly love her." he scoffed._

"_You know what, Daniel? I don't give a fuck about what you think. You weren't in my position, so shut up." _

"_Temper, temper," Daniel teased. "After all, that's what got you here,"_

"_Shut up, Daniel,"_

"_No, this is all your fault."_

"_Shut up, Daniel!" Derek fist clenched._

"_Daniel, please," Casey said, tightening her grip on his arm and shooting Derek a 'worthless' look. "He isn't worth it,"_

"_No, Casey, I have to do this." He said to her. Daniel looked back at Derek. "No one would be hurt if you just kept your goddamn mouth shut. You wouldn't be in this position, and life would be normal. But you _had_ to open your mouth and start all this. _Everyone _is hurting, and it's all because of you!"_

"_So what? I'm hurting because of her! (He pointed at Casey) She did this to me. She toyed with me, lead me on. This is all her fault!"_

"_Don't try and turn this around on me. You created this silly illusion in your head that I liked you. I never did. I love Daniel, not you."_

"_She's right; it's all you." Daniel smiled. "By the way, I almost forgot," Daniel reached into his pocket and pulled out a gun. He pointed it at Derek._

"_I told you that if you came near her again, I'd kill you," he loaded it. "I'd better keep that promise," Daniel pulled the trigger. _

"_Goodbye, Derek," he said._

_Derek felt the bullet hit him and pierce his skin, passing through him. He could feel his life escaping from him. He could feel his blood seeping onto his skin from him. He could feel himself losing everything._

* * *

"NO!"

Derek shot up instantly, screaming. He tried to catch his breath and calm himself.

_Breathe. Breathe in, breathe out._

_Focus. Focus on something, something you know._

_No, not that._

_Anything but that._

"What the-?" Jed yelled, running from his room while rubbing his eyes.

He stopped to see it was just Derek, feeling his forehead and face. He'd broken out in a cold sweat.

He dropped the pillow so that it was at his side. Derek looked up.

"Dude, what the hell? It's three in the _fucking_ morning, and you're _screaming_! What the balls?"

"Sorry man," Derek began. "I was having a bad dream,"

"More like a nightmare," he mumbled. "Whatever, just go back to sleep, ok?"

Jed turned to go back to his room.

"Oh, and Derek?"

"Yeah?"

"If I hear you screaming again, I'll kill you. Seriously, I've got the morning shift tomorrow and if I don't get my sleep, my boss won't be too happy."

* * *

Derek sat up. It was morning now. Sunlight grazed the grey carpet and filled the room with light.

"Hey," Jed greeted, pouring milk into his cereal.

"Morning," Derek said. "What time is it?"

"Quarter to eight," Jed said simply.

"REALLY?"

"Yup," Jed paused. "Hey, you want something to eat?"

"Yeah, actually, I'm starved. Whatdya have?"

"Let's see," he said, thinking. "I've got toast, cereal, oatmeal and coffee. Take your pick,"

"Whatdya have in the cereal department?"

"I've got Frooty Loops, Sugar Krisps and Corn Puffs."

"Definitely Corn Puffs. They're my favourite!" Derek said.

Jed pulled down the box and grabbed a bowl out for Derek. He pulled out a spoon as well. "Well, I gotta head off to work now, so, uh, yeah!" He grabbed his keys from the little desk near the door. "There's coffee in the pot, if you want some and milk's in the fridge and sugar's on the counter. You can watch T.V., if you want,"

"Don't destroy my apartment, okay?" he added.

"Got it,"

"Alright, later!" Jed yelled, rushing out the door

* * *

Casey slung her bag onto her shoulders and looked at her phone. It was 7:53. Lizzie and Edwin were already downstairs now, eating breakfast. Marti hadn't come downstairs yet.

"I'm off. See you guys when you get back tonight," Casey whispered. "Oh, and when Daniel wakes up, tell him I've headed to school early to grab coffee on the way,"

Lizzie nodded.

"Bye," Casey whispered, exiting the house. She silently closed the door behind her.

* * *

Casey turned into the park. There was a short cut to the coffee shop through here. She walked past the parking lot and into the park area. There, to her left, was a group of teenagers. There were five of them, sitting around a bench.

The one with his back facing her looked eerily familiar… too familiar, in fact; the same brown hair in the same cut in the same style, same body structure, same… everything.

She quickened her pace and headed towards the group.

"Excuse me," she said, grasping the straps of her bag tighter as she stood behind them. She was a fair enough distance behind him, but not too far away from them.

"Yeah?" the boy turned. She looked at his face. His jaw was squarer and his eyes were blue and he was wearing glasses and one of his ears was pierced. Not like him at all…

"S-sorry, I thought you were someone I know."

"Don't worry about it," he smiled at her, then turned back to his friends and she continued walking through the park, silently beating herself up.

* * *

Derek picked up his backpack and slung it onto his shoulder. He'd put the sofa back together, folded the blankets, washed his dishes and was now ready to go. He headed for the door.

He sighed and reached for the door knob when suddenly, it turned. Derek stepped back and the door swung open. Jed walked through.

"Oh, hey," he said, eyes fixated on the counter. "I just forgot the keys to the register up here,"

He ran over to it and grabbed them. Jed finally looked up to see the couch put back together and Derek with his bag.

"You heading out now?" Jed asked.

"Yeah, gotta continue on," Derek said. "Oh, and thanks for letting me stay last night. I really appreciate it. And sorry about the screaming thing,"

"Don't worry about it," Jed smiled. "Do you know where you're gonna go?"

Derek shook his head. "No idea, but that's the fun part, right?"

Derek pushed past him and exited the apartment, standing just outside of the doorway.

"Thanks again. I really, _really_ appreciate what you did for me."

Derek turned and started down the stairs to the streets.

At that moment, Jed didn't know what came over him. It was either something about the look on his face, or it was the feeling that he had from his past, or maybe it was the fact that if he slept in the street and screamed like that again, that he'd probably be arrested and _then _the shit would begin. But all he knew was that something prompted him to do this.

Derek was halfway down the stairs when Jed yelled "Wait!"

Derek turned to face him again.

Jed sighed. "I'm probably gonna regret this later, _but_ do you wanna stay here for a little while longer?"

"What?"

"Like not forever or anything, but maybe a few months at the most. Just until you can get your own place or you decide what you want to do with your life,"

"You mean it?"

Jed nodded. "You seem cool enough and I like the company. Plus, I need a wingman. So whatdya say?"

"Dude, that's awesome, thanks!" Derek exclaimed. "I owe you, BIG TIME,"

"Don't worry about it. Just chip in for food and rent and do your own laundry."

"Deal," Derek smiled.

"Good." Jed smiled. "Why don't you get back here, set your stuff down and come downstairs with me? You can chill out down there with me for a bit."

* * *

"Here's your Large Skinny Caramel Macchiato, miss," said the barista, handing her the warm drink.

She thanked him and headed over to the little toppings bar across the coffee shop. She set her drink down at the little bench and sprinkled some cinnamon, vanilla and chocolate powder onto the foamed-milk-and-caramel-drizzle topping. She looked up for a lid for her drink, but there wasn't any more for her cup.

"Crap," she muttered. Casey quickly scanned the room and found another stand for lids. She held her drink tightly as she walked back to where she got her drink. There was a guy standing in front of the area.

"Excuse me," she said politely, reaching past him for a lid.

"Oh, sorry," the guy said, and he moved out of her way. She successfully grabbed one and retracted her arm from the counter.

Heading out of the store, she looked at her cup as she tried to put a lid on it. [if you liked it, you should've put a _lid_ on it! XD I'm so funny! I should be a comedian, legit.]

"Casey?" asked a voice from behind her. She put the lid on and turned. It was Sam.

"Hey Sam," she said. "What brings you here?"

He gestured to the coffee cup in his hand. "I just stopped here on my way to school." He paused. "Hey, you mind if we talk for a bit?"

She looked at her phone. "Sure, I've got a couple minutes. Let's grab a table,"

Casey and Sam walked over to an empty table in front of the window. She pulled out one of the chairs and sat down, placing her coffee on the table. Sam sat down across from her.

"So, what's up?" she asked.

"I heard about Derek."

She gave a quick little laugh. "Of course, I mean, you're his _best friend_."

"Casey, I'm worried about him."

Casey turned her cup around on the table. "I'm worried too, Sam. We all are."

"But I don't know where he is or who he's with. I don't know if he's safe or not," he sighed. "I don't even know why he left."

"Neither do I," she lied. "Have you heard anything yet?" she asked.

"Nope. Have you guys?"

"Same," she looked at her phone. "Sorry, Sam, but I really have to go or I'll be late." She stood up.

"Do you want a ride? I have my car here."

"Really?"

"Yeah, c'mon,"

* * *

"Yo, Derek, you mind watching the shop for a minute? I've gotta grab more filters from the back."

"Oh, yeah, sure."

"Okay, just, uh, make sure no one steals anything and if someone orders something, just tell 'em to wait, ok?"

"Got it," Derek jokingly saluted him.

"Don't fuck with me right now; Monday mornings are our busiest, and I gotta get those filters,"

"THEN GO!"

"Okay,"

Derek slid off the barstool and walked around the counter.

He looked around and spotted a couple of girls getting up to leave their booth. The girl facing the door looked strangely familiar… too familiar; same hair color and cut and style, same height, same skin color, same… everything.

Mesmerized, he left from behind the counter and followed them out the door. They stood at the curb, hailing a taxi.

"Hey!" he called from behind them. All the girls turned.

"Yeah?" the girl said. He looked at her face. Her face was rounder and her eyes were green and her nose was slightly larger and she had several piercings in her ears. Not like her at all…

"Sorry, I thought you were someone I knew,"

"Whatever," she said, turning back to the street. "Creep," he heard her whisper to her friends as he re-entered the store. Jed was back behind the counter now, unloading the coffee filters.

"Where were you? I got back and you weren't here."

"Sorry, I thought I saw someone I knew." He sat on a bar stool. "Or used to know, I suppose."

* * *

**I know, it's been SOO LONG!**

**Here come the excuses: First, I kept on telling myself, 'I post this when I'm done the next chapter' but that chapter was/is so hard to write! Like actually. I'm still not done. I have a meh writer's block. So, almost a week-and-a-bit after Study Buddies one year anniversary (yay) and the start of school (boo), I've finally decided to post it.**

**Who knows? Maybe your lovely reviews will help with the writer's block?**

**And thanks to all the fans. You make me happy :)**


	25. It Won't Be Pretty When The Lights

**So, yeah. It's terribly long, but quite important. (Both the story and this)**

**Also. THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER OF _STUDY BUDDIES_.**

**(Made you have a heart attack, didn't I?)**

**Naw, see, I'm going to post the last bit as chapters in the sequal, which will be called either _Better Off _or something else. Not quite sure, but probably _Better Off_. The best ways to find out are to a) keeping an eye open, b) adding me to author alert or c) contacting me personally. And by personally, I mean the site. Not IN PERSON. That's creepy. And I don't think that my parents/friends/etc. would be too happy about that. With the exception of people whe know me in reality. Because I see them often.**

**So, yeah. Once I post this, the story will now be 'complete'.**

**Also, plot bunnies have been having wild sex in my head (with everything BUT this story, because I already have that worked out entirely.) and because of that, once this big MASSIVE sequal is complete, you can definitly count on NOT ONE, BUT TWO Life with Derek fanfic's and maybe two Harry Potter ones as well. **

**P.S. I will _try_ to have the sequal up by the end of the month, but I make no promises.**

**kthxbai**

* * *

*DISCLAMER: I don't own LWD. But I do own Daniel and Jed and any other named character that is _not_ a part of LWD.*

**CHAPTER 25: It Won't Be Pretty When The Lights Come Back**

"Thanks for the ride, Sam," Casey said, getting out of the car and walking over towards him. "I really appreciate it,"

"You're welcome," he smiled. He walked towards her and gave her a hug. She wrapped her arms around him too.

"I'll see you later, kay?" Sam said, as she pulled away.

"Yeah, I'll see you later, Sam," she said, waving meekly as she walked to the front doors. "Bye,"

"Bye,"

* * *

Casey closed her locker and started walking in the direction of her first period English class. She gripped her bag straps tightly, fighting tears. She'd underestimated how tough today would be. It was hard walking through the halls of Thompson High without Derek there.

And like wild fire, the news of his disappearance had spread through the school. In fact, twelve different people had already come up to her and said that they heard about Derek and offered their condolences [Big words] and mentioned their hope that he'd come home soon. It hurt even more now. It was like there was a constant reminder that she'd screwed everything over.

"Casey!" yelled someone from behind her. She turned to see Emily, running towards her. Emily stopped in front of Casey.

Emily wrapped her arms around Casey's neck.

"I heard about Derek. Oh God, Casey, I'm so sorry." Casey held on to her friend, as if she was a life preserver and Cased was about to drown, and started to sob. Emily felt her shaking body and pulled away.

"Not here, you don't," Emily said, grabbing her hand and dragging her into the nearest girl's bathroom.

* * *

"Here," Emily said, sitting beside Casey on the floor, as she handed her some toilet paper to wipe her eyes.

"Thanks," Casey sniffed, wiping her eyes with it. Black smudges appeared on the tissue. "I'm so sorry for blowing up like that. I've just been so upset since he left."

"It's okay, Case. I know it's been hard on you and the fam." she said.

"Emily, it's been terrible. Everyone's a wreak." Looking over her shoulder, she added, "I just wish he'd come back,"

"We all do," Emily said, wrapping her arms around her crying friend.

Casey looked at her tissue. "I guess I should've worn waterproof mascara today," she joked.

"C'mon," Emily said, now standing and holding out her hand to help Casey up. "Let's get you cleaned up,"

* * *

Casey silently walked in to her English class. Mr. Harris, her teacher stopped writing on the chalkboard and looked her way.

"Ah, Miss McDonald, how nice of you to join us,"

"Sorry, Mr. Harris," she said, ducking towards the back of the classroom to grab the empty desk there.

Mr. Harris turned back to writing on the board. "Anyways, as I was saying, on the exam there will be three sections; Part A is on Grammar, Language, Vocabulary, Literary Terms and Elements, Part B is on _Death of a Salesman_, and Part C is on poetry."

* * *

"YO! JED!" a girl hollered. Derek looked up from his iPod and pulled off his headphones. She was louder than his music, and he liked his music loud. The girl walked behind the counter as Jed emerged from the back room.

"Oh, hey, Erin" he said, sounding a bit annoyed but then his tone changed to a confused one. "You're here early…"

She smiled cutely. "'Tis better to be early than to be late, my dear boy."

"Your shift isn't for another hour and a bit,"

"So? Maybe I wanted to see you and get some of your _fabulous_ coffee,"

Jed rolled his eyes.

There was a customer at the counter and Erin walked over. "I got this one," she said as she passed Jed and smiled flirtatiously at him.

Jed walked over to Derek, whose headphones were around his neck. Jed leaned against the other side of the counter.

"That's Erin?" Derek asked.

"Yup, that's Erin."

Erin walked over to the espresso machine and pushed a couple buttons on it. A few seconds later, she handed the customer their drink.

* * *

It was lunch time now and Casey needed more caffeine. That one macchiato certainly wasn't enough to keep her awake in Math. She pushed the big door open and walked out of it. The sun was bright and blinding. She squinted.

Casey walked out of the front area of the school, where the smokers were smoking. She turned to the left and started to walk down the shaded path which was lined with trees. The shade was better on her eyes.

"CASEY!"

She turned to see one of Daniel's friends, Braden, running after her.

"Oh, hey Braden,"

"Hey, Casey." He said, walking beside her now. "I've been looking for you all morning. I really need to talk to you about something."

"Oh, yeah, sure. What's up?"

"It's about you and Sam,"

"What about 'me and Sam'?" she asked, a tad bit confused.

"Look, Casey, I saw you getting out of his car. I saw him hugging you-."

She interrupted. "Braden, Sam and I are just friends; you know that. He was just giving me a ride to school-."

"Casey, _I_ know that you guys are just friends. But Daniel doesn't. And he's the type to get really jealous if he thinks another guy wants you." The tone of his voice changed. It was angrier. "I just wanted to tell you to watch the way you act around other guys. Don't be too friendly or flirty. And be thankful that it was me who saw you, instead of him,"

* * *

"Yo! Erin!" Jed hollered. "It's 5! I'm out for the night. See ya tomorrow!"

"Kay!" she yelled back. "See ya!"

He walked out from behind the counter and headed over to Derek, who was still listening to his iPod. Jed tapped him on the shoulder and Derek pulled off his headphones and set them around his neck.

"You ready to go?" he asked.

"Yeah,"

Derek slid off his stool and followed Jed back to his apartment.

* * *

"So what's the deal with you and Erin?" Derek asked, cracking open a beer. "You seem awfully flirty. Are you dating?"

Jed almost spit out his beer. "Me? Erin? Date?"

"So I'll take that as a 'no',"

"We're not dating, we're just friends," Jed took a sip of his beer. "And she's my boss."

"Oh…" Derek said, as if he had had an epiphany. "That would explain the whole name-tag thing,"

Jed picked up the remote to the T.V. and flicked it on. He surfed through the channels.

"Anything good on?" Derek asked.

"Uh, let's see…" Jed flipped through the channel listings faster. "There's _The Price is Right_, _New. Music. Live._, _Wipeout Canada-_."

"Dude, that's my favourite _freaking_ show! Put it on!"

"Awesome; putting on now," (definite _Drake and Josh_ moment) he smiled as he pressed 'Select' and sat back. Derek grabbed the bowl of popcorn on the counter and sat beside him on the couch. He stuffed some popcorn in his mouth and offered Jed the bowl.

"Ooh ont shome?" he asked, grabbing another handful and adding it to his mouth.

"Sure, thanks dude," Jed spoke hesitantly but laughed a little at the end.

* * *

"Hey," Daniel walked by Casey and kissed her on the cheek, then leaned against the locker by hers.

"Oh; hey," she said, putting her binder away.

"I missed you this morning," he said.

"I had to get up early to get ready and I wanted to grab coffee," she said simply.

"Damn," he smiled. "I was hoping I could've driven you to school,"

"Anyways, I figured to make up for not being able to drive you to school, that I'd stop by to give you a ride home,"

Casey closed her locker and shoved her knee against it to keep the door closed and locked it again. "Actually, I think I'm gonna pass today, Daniel,"

"What? Why?"

"I just need time to think," she said.

"What the hell do you need to think about?" Daniel laughed a little to hide his upset.

"Things," she said.

"You mean Derek, don't you?"

"Yeah,"

His voce dropped to a lower tone. "You shouldn't worry about him. _He_ left because _he_ couldn't take a rejection. It's _his_ problem, not yours."

She looked away.

He mover her head with his finger so as to look him in the eyes. "Please, just one ride home. That's it, nothing else,"

"Fine,"

* * *

Casey leaned her head against her hand. She looked out the window. It was a view she'd seen before, yet new, all at the same time.

Daniel looked over at her. "You're still thinking about him, aren't you?"

She nodded. "Yeah,"

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

"No."

There was a silence.

"So how was your day?" he asked, trying to break it and fill it with conversation.

"Hard." She said.

Another pause.

"Mine was pretty good, actually. I ended up skipping today and hanging out with Kyle 'n the guys at his trailer. Braden wasn't there though,"

"Yeah, I saw him at lunch today."

Silence again.

He pulled up to the front of the house and put the car in park. Daniel looked over at her.

"Look, Casey, I don't want you to think that this shit that went down with Derek is your fault. You and I both know that it wasn't. _He _came after me; _he_ kissed you; _he _hurt you. So please, don't worry about him so much. Please,"

"I've got to go, Daniel," she said, reaching for the door release. Daniel reached for his and he met her on her side as she got out. She placed her feet on the pavement walkway and stood up. Daniel rushed over to her.

He put his arm around her and they began to walk to the door. Casey looked down until she noticed what was going down on the front lawn. She stopped, halfway to the house to see Nora and George, holding each other, in front of large, professional-grade video camera equipment.

"-If you have any information about Derek's whereabouts, please call the tip line's phone number-." George said.

Casey looked up at Daniel. He didn't say anything.

She looked back at it.

She couldn't tear her eyes away from it. Daniel gave her a little jerk to call her back.

He ushered her towards the door, bordering on being pushy.

"-And please Derek, if you see this, _please_; give us a call or something to let us know that you're safe. Everyone's worried about you. We all miss you-." She heard Nora say.

They arrived at the porch and Daniel pulled her into a hug. "I need you, Casey. Please don't pull away from me because of him." he whispered into her ear.

She nodded and he leaned in and she let him kiss her, wrapping his arms around her waist. She sorta just stood there. He noticed that and pulled away, resting his forehead against her forehead.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you too," she responded quietly, voice barely audible, trying to turn her head away from his eyes and he let her go to leave.

"See you tomorrow," he added, waving to her. She waved back meekly and entered the house.

* * *

Nora and George returned to the house. He closed the door behind them. Nora was on the verge of crying. George rubbed her back sympathetically.

"You want some tea?"

She nodded.

George went to the kitchen and Nora sat beside Casey on the sofa. She was watching the Weather Network.

"Anything interesting on the Weather Network?"

"Nope," Casey said sadly. "Just weather,"

She rested her head on her mother's shoulder. "I wish he'd just come home already," she said.

She put her arm around her eldest daughter. "We all do,"

* * *

"Yo, I'm gonna go get a shower," Jed got up. Wipeout was over and the news was about to start.

"Okay,"

Jed headed towards the bathroom and Derek sat back, grabbing the remote and pointing it towards the T.V.'s cable box.

He pressed 'guide' on the remote and surfed through the channels for something interesting… or that he liked. But unfortunately, there was nothing that he saw immediately that appealed to him.

"_Good evening, I'm Ellie Pierson for CKZE News. Tonight's top stories; President Barak Obama's meeting with Congress: what will this mean for Canadians; Rob Ford denies homophobia in a press conference; and the riots in London."_

He flipped back towards the 20's to go back for a re-run of _How I Met Your Mother_ (NPH FTW!). The box in the top right corner continued to produce sound. He ignored it until something grabbed his attention.

"_-London teen, Derek Venturi, disappeared from his London home yesterday afternoon, between the hours of 11am and 12pm-."_

He waited and listened to the news report.

"_-Derek Venturi is 18 years old white male, approximately 182cm with light brown hair and light brown eyes. If you have seen him, or have any information on his whereabouts, please call 1-800-593-TIPS-."_

_Whatever_, he thought, and put on _How I Met Your Mother_.

* * *

"_Why would I want to change anything? This place is great, except you don't have a TV."_

"_See that wall? 300 inch flat-screen! They only sell them in Japan but I know a guy. They ship it over in a tugboat like freakin' King Kong!"_

"_It hurts my eyes..."_

"_Yeah, that doesn't go away."_

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a wild balled up shirt appears and is launched in Derek's face.

"Put it on," ordered Jed. He was dressed in a light blue button up and jeans.

"Uh… why?" Derek asked, examining the shirt. It was sorta his style. It was a black-and-white plaid button-up.

"'Cuz we're going out. To celebrate." He said, grabbing his keys and shoving his wallet into his pocket.

"What? Why?" Derek questioned.

"We're going out to celebrate you being my roommate. Plus it's Ladies Night at Mink. Works out well, doesn't it?"

Derek stayed silent, trying to hide his lack of excitement at going out clubbing. He'd been out to a couple of teen clubs with Sam, Ralph and others, but these were big-boy clubs. The teen ones sure didn't have that much booze, every drug imaginable and half-naked girls (but it was quite close [really, have you seen how slutty some girls out there dress?]).

Jed shook his head, seeing that he was giving it a face. "You're not getting out of this one. You're coming along no matter what."

He groaned.

"Good; now put on that shirt."

* * *

"How do I look?" he asked, leaving the washroom. His other t-shirt was balled up in his hand.

"You look good. Does the shirt fit?"

"Yeah,"

"Great. Put on some more deodorant; brush your teeth; grab your ID and let's go. The cab's waiting outside."

* * *

Casey could hear her phone vibrating beside her on her bed. She looked over from her notes at her phone. It was Sam.

She put down her notes and picked up the phone.

"Hey Sam,"

"Hey. Have you heard anything about Derek?"

"Nope, nothing. How about you? Has he texted you or anything?"

"Nope." He paused. "Casey, I really want him to come home."

"Me too,"

"Call me if you hear anything, okay?"

"I will. You call me if you hear something too, kay?"

"I promise,"

"Bye"

* * *

"Here," Jed gestured the pack of gum towards Derek. "You want a piece?"

"Yeah, sure." He unwrapped the long, flat piece of gum and stuck it in his mouth. Peppermint.

The cab pulled up to the curb. From the car, they could hear the heavy baseline. A bright, neon pink sign illuminated the off-white building and reflected off the windows across the street. There was a line forming outside the building. Derek was hesitant to get out of the cab while Jed was already opening the door of the car.

"You coming?"

"Oh, yeah,"

Derek nervously shoved his hands in his pocket. Jed met him on the sidewalk and the two guys walked to the end of the line.

The line wasn't terribly long, considering that it was 9:00ish. There were a handful of guys and a shit load of girls, all waiting to get into the nightclub. Slowly, they moved forward. The bouncer was taking too long, flirting with every girl who wanted to enter the threshold.

Derek's eyes began to wander around the street. He looked at the dark bank on the street corner. He looked at the bus shelter across the street. He watched the black cars go by. He moved unknowingly, distracted by the area.

He felt Jed's hand hit him in the chest.

"Dude, your I.D.,"

"Oh," Derek reached into his pocket and pulled it out. The bouncer took the I.D. and looked at it. His expression changed.

"Your friend here's underage."

"So? Is that a problem?"

The bouncer's face returned to his original blank expression. "Hand."

Derek held it out as the bouncer un-capped a black Sharpie and drew a large 'x' on the back. He recapped it and ushered the two into the club.

The music in there was certainly louder than it was outside (and it was pretty loud outside of the club). The club was dark, with steady lighting over the bar and strobe lights that illuminated the room fully periodically. Girls danced and the lights reflected off their dresses and their jewelry. Guys leaned up against the walls, flirting with girls with drinks in hand and trying to get lucky.

"I'm gonna go grab some drinks. You want one?" Jed asked.

"Surprise me," Derek said. But then he held up his hand. "But nothing alcoholic." He felt like being a good boy tonight.

"Got it,"

Jed left him and walked over to the bar. Girls pushed passed Derek and gave him a flirty smile. He smiled back. But no matter how hard he tried, he was a fish-out-of-water, standing around all awkward-like.

"Here," Jed gestured to the drink in his left hand. "I got you ginger ale." Derek took it. Jed took a sip of his beer.

"Let's go grab a table," he suggested.

Derek nodded and followed behind him.

* * *

Jed sipped his beer as his eyes followed a tall, sexy blonde across the floor. Derek just looked around. There were lots of people dancing. Girls were grinding up on guys or throwing their hands up in the air to the music. Guys were either dancing or chilling in a little lounge-like area setup towards the back or the larger one upstairs. The DJ was hard at work, selecting music to pump up the crowd.

Derek looked at the glass in his hands, almost like a recovering alcoholic does with a glass of wine; he wanted to get out of here. Jed looked over at him.

"Yo, Derek," he said. Derek looked up and Jed gestured to across the room. "See that redhead over there? She's totally checking you out. Let's go and say 'hi',"

Once again, Derek was totally reluctant to flirt. After yesterday, he'd had enough with girls. But Jed dragged him along anyways.

The two dudes approached the redhead and her friend, a bubbly blonde. The redhead wore a skintight, black sequin dress and blue 5" platforms with a silver necklace with a star pendant and a bracelet to match. The blonde, on the other hand, wore a no-back, low-front red dress that was a bit looser that her friend's, but still left nothing to the imagination. She also wore simple, 4" black pumps (but she didn't need it because she was already quite tall) and a black bracelet.

"Hey," Jed said. "I'm Jed and this," he gestured to the awkward boy standing beside him. "Is Derek,"

"Hey," he waved meekly.

"Well," began the blonde. "I'm Deana and this is my friend, Laura."

"Nice to meet you," he smiled. "Anyways, we were wondering if you'd let us buy you ladies a drink."

The blonde smiled flirtatiously. "Sure. We'd love that,"

"Okay, what'd'ya drink?"

"I'll have tequila," she looked over at Laura. "And she'll have scotch."

"Oooh, hardcore drinkers. I like that," Jed laughed. "We'll be back,"

He winked at them and both he and Derek walked over to the bar. He told the bartender what he wanted and she quickly got to work to grab the drinks. Jed leaned up against the bar beside the nervous Derek.

"The redhead was super-into you. You could tell by the way she played with her hair." Jed said. "You into her?"

Derek shrugged. "Not really. Like she's cute'n'all, but she's not my type."

"C'mon dude, just give her a shot. You might like her."

The bartender placed the two drinks beside Jed. He placed a ten dollar bill in their place and took the drinks. He gave Derek the scotch and they headed back to where the girls were sitting. The girls were causually chatting.

As soon as Laura saw Derek, she perked up. Deana noticed and turned.

"Here you go," Jed handed Deana the drink. She graciously accepted it and began to sip it almost instantly.

Derek, on the other hand, wasn't as, er, _enthusiastic_ about Laura. But he decided to give her a try and smiled as he handed her the drink. She took it and whispered "thank you" to him, but he couldn't hear her so it just looked like she was mouthing it.

Then Deana turned and whispered something into Laura's ear. Laura nodded in response and as Deana pulled away.

The heavy baseline of the previous song ended and a new track began. The DJ was styling his own personal remix.

"Ohmygod, I _love_ this song!" she exclaimed.

"Me too!" Jed said. A part of Derek believed that he wasn't into the song so much as the person who liked it.

Deana proceeded to stand up and grabbed a hold of Jed's wrist. "Then let's dance," she said and Jed nodded. She pulled him on to the floor and began to shift her hips and body in time to the beat. Jed did the same and before they knew it, they were "dancing" with each other.

Derek looked over at Laura. She _was_ rather cute. And as a bonus, was totally into him. "You wanna dance?" he asked. "Yeah," she yelled. He grabbed her hand and led her over to the floor.

* * *

Laura was more comfortable now. The alcohol had kicked in faster than she thought and now she was ready to let loose.

She placed a hand on Derek's shoulder and began to move her body, using him as support. Derek started to get into it too. She turned her body to face away from him. He put both hands on her waist and they moved together as she grinded against him. Derek looked over and from what he could see Jed and Deana were definitely having a _great_ time.

* * *

Next thing he knew, she was sitting on him, straddling him. They were making out. And he was enjoying it.

She moved down to his neck and he let out a small moan of pleasure as he tilted his head in the opposite direction. He let his eyes open and looked around for Jed. He finally located him across the club near the door, where he saw that things are heating up between them.

He closed his eyes again.

She moved back to kissing him on the lips, gently gripping his hair and pulling a bit. She grinded harder.

He let out a groan and she smiled.

"_Remember how you used to think of me doing that to you?_"

_Fuck off, Casey,_ he thought.

She bit his lip playfully and he moved his hands down her back. He then moved to her neck, sucking hard. She tilted her head back in ecstasy.

"_Can't get rid of me _that_ easily, Derek. Nice try though,_"

_Seriously, fuck off. I don't need you nagging at me._

She ran her fingers through his hair, gripping it and pulling.

"_Isn't it sad how she's grinding against you and all you can think about it me?"_

_FUCK OFF. You're ruining it._

He bit down lightly.

She stopped and pulled his head up and guided him to her mouth as she started to move against him.

"_Miss me, miss me, now you wanna kiss me…"_

_Fuck off,_ he thought. _Fuck OFF!_ _You don't want me and I don't want you here. So FUCK OFF!_

But he said the last part out loud and Laura pulled away for a second.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Oh y-yeah, I'm fine."

She kissed him harder, grinded against him harder, until she suddenly pulled away. "We can go back to my place, if you want," she whispered in his ear, panting slightly.

He nodded and she kissed him again. But this time, she seemed more excited. More enthusiastic.

"_So you're gonna go home with her?_"

_For fuck's sake, Casey, leave me the FUCK alone._

"_Fine,_"

* * *

It'd been nearly twenty minutes since "Casey" had last shown up. For once, Derek had won.

But if he'd won, why did he feel like he lost?

Derek pushed her off of him.

She held a confused look on her face. "What's wrong?"

"I can't do this," he said. Laura just sat there, looking confused.

He rushed towards the door and ran outside. The night air was a mixture of gasoline, sweat and nature. The city was black, with the exception of the lights that glistened in the city, illuminating sections of streets and buildings. He inhaled it. Cars drove by, people were chatting.

"Derek!"

Derek turned in the direction that his name was being called. Jed was running towards him. He caught up to him.

"What the hell are you thinking? Are you gay or something?"

"Just leave me alone, Jed. I'm not in the mood."

"There was a hot girl up in there, about to have sex with you and you just turned her down and ran out of there."

"Just leave me alone."

"Derek, what the fuck is with you?"

"Leave me alone, Jed."

"No, not till you fucking tell me. You've been in a fucking mood since last night. _Nobody _screams some chick's name at night without a good reason."

"JUST. LEAVE. ME. ALONE."

"You know what? Fine," Jed reached into his pocket and handed Derek his house keys. "Go home. I'll see you in the morning."

* * *

At 11:59pm, Derek returned to Jed's apartment.

With a heavy sigh, he unlocked the door and tossed the keys on the table. He knew where the light switch was as well as he did at his home. He flicked on the kitchen light and watched the florescent bulb power up slowly. The couch was put back together from when he had planned to leave.

He walked over to the couch and plopped down, placing the edges of his thumb and pointer fingers against his hairline. His wallet lay open on the other cushion. He reached into his back pocket to put his ID away, but instead of his fingers finding a hard, smooth surface; they found a soft, frayed one.

Curious, he pulled it out his pocket.

There, in his hand sat a folded up photo, frayed and worn from the folds and multiple washes. He'd forgotten that he had it in there. Slowly, he opened it.

It was a family photo. Their first one, to be exact. He couldn't remember when or why he'd put that there.

But he saw her face.

He looked away, folded it up blindly and put it away on his stuff.

* * *

_Whap! Whap! Whap!_

"Derek! Wake up! Let me in!"

Slowly, Derek lifted his head. Sunlight lightly entered the room, flowing through the white blinds.

"C'mon, let me in!" _WHAP! WHAP! WHAP!_

Derek had fallen asleep on the couch, not the couch bed, (which he was too lazy to set up last night. Or grab blankets, for that matter).

He let out a loud groan and rolled over.

"Damn it, Derek," he swore. "I heard that groan. Open the door!"

He rolled off the couch and his feet fell to the floor. He stood up and walked zombie-like to the door. "Keep your pants on," he hollered.

He opened the door to a disheveled Jed. He was wearing last night's clothes, with his shirt only half tucked in and his pants were sagging and he had smeared lipstick on his face and neck and his brown afro was super messy.

"What the hell man? I've been pounding on the door for the last 10 minutes."

"Sleeping."

Derek looked him over. "Looks like you had a fun night," he remarked, smirking.

He pushed past Derek into the apartment and headed towards the bathroom.

"I'll tell you about it later. I'm gonna grab a shower."

* * *

Derek sat down with his sesame seed bagel with butter on the couch. He flicked on the T.V.

A News Program was on T.V. but only because _How I Met Your Mother_ was on a local channel. He noticed his picture in the corner of the screen.

"_-The parents of Derek Venturi, the Missing teen from London, Ontario, have released a press statement to local and national news outlets-."_

The screen quickly turned from the news center's background to his front yard. Nora and George stood together. George had his arms around her.

"_-On Sunday, our son Derek disappeared from our London home. He i__s 18 years old. He is five-ten and has brown eyes and brown hair. If you have seen him, or i__f you have any information about Derek's whereabouts, please call the tip line's phone number at __1-800-593-TIPS-."_George said.

But in the background, he saw a familiar figure walking along the pathway towards the house. He looked harder. Then he dropped his bagel that was hanging out of his mouth. It was Casey. And she was walking with Daniel. And his arm was around her.

"_-And please Derek, if you see this, _please_; give us a call or something to let us know that you're safe. Everyone's worried about you. We all miss you and want you home as soon as possible-." _Nora said_._

He ignored the sentiments of his family; all he could focus on was Casey and Daniel.

He saw her look straight at the camera.

He saw Daniel pull her back.

He watched as they walked to the front door.

He watched as they kissed.

He couldn't stand it and quickly turned the T.V. off, leaning over to grab that photo. Tears were in his eyes. That was the slap in the face.

That was the reason he needed to leave.

That was the reason he had to stay.

He shook his head just when he was about to cry, as if to tell himself that he wouldn't waste another second on her.

Derek quickly unfolded it. Looking at the photo still faded and wrinkled, he firmly gripped the side where Casey was. She sat on the armrest of the sofa, farthest away from Derek.

"I'm out of your life, and you're out of mine."

And he pulled down.

And he didn't feel bad.

* * *

**AN (July 23, 2013)**

**Alright, I know it's been a loooong time, but, I have the first chapter of the sequel. It's called "Losing You". Check it out :)**


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